Camp Death
by jerbils11
Summary: Due to some bizarre events, Derek and Casey end up at the same camp for the whole summer. Things start to go seriously downhill when people start going missing. What if there's a killer in the camp....?
1. Prologue

**A/N: I know it's pretty short, but the chapters to come are going to be much longer, I promise! I hope you guys like this new story!**

**R&R, please, let me know what you think of this!**

**-Jaclyn :)**

**Camp Death**

**Prologue**

"Junior year is _finally_ over!" Casey McDonald gushed as she and her best friend Emily Davis cleaned out their lockers for the year.

Emily smiled, "I know! This is so amazing! We're going to have such an awesome summer! Peter has already invited me to two parties, and he told me you could come too!"

Casey grinned over at her best friend, "That's great, Em! I'm so glad you and Peter are doing so much better after that little rough patch!"

Emily grimaced, she and Peter had gone through a time where Emily had thought that Peter was just a way to forget about Sheldon, and Peter had become insanely jealous. But they had gotten over it, and they were both happy once more.

"But, I can't come to any of the parties this summer. I found out about this amazing camp on the internet, and I'm actually going to that for the whole summer."

"A camp? For the whole summer? It must be some camp!" Emily looked disappointed that her friend would not be around for the summer.

"It's a dance camp, and it's supposed to have great instructors, and it's supposed to help anyone with a wish of being in dance later on in life! It's a great opportunity!" Casey looked so excited, that Emily couldn't help but smile.

"I'm sure you'll have a great time! So when do you leave?" Emily was now genuinely interested.

"Um, two days from now. I'm packing tomorrow."

"That's pretty soon."

Casey was looking at someone across the hallway, "Sometimes it's not soon enough."

Emily followed her gaze to where Derek Venturi was standing at his locker, laughing with his best friend Sam Jones. Emily smiled knowingly and turned back to Casey, "What did he do this time?"

Casey's gaze didn't waver as she answered, "Nothing, and that's just it, he's been oddly nice. I think he's going to pull something big off before I leave. And that's why I'm worried."

"Did you ever think that maybe he's just finally getting along with you?"

Casey finally tore her gaze away from the bane of her existence, and turned to Emily, shocked, "Are you kidding? It's Derek's life to torment me; he wouldn't just suddenly become nice to me!"

Emily shrugged, "He's not that bad, really."

Casey rolled her eyes, "I thought you were over that."

Emily looked shocked, "I wasn't sticking up for him because I like him! I was just saying that he's not that bad." She smiled at Casey, "If you stopped hating his guts for two seconds you might see that too."

Casey made a face, and Emily laughed, "It was just a thought."

Casey shook her head, "Let's face it, the chances of Derek and I _ever_ getting along are about one in a million!"

Emily shrugged and looked back to Derek, only to see that he was looking after Casey, an odd look in his eye, "If you say so." She smiled as she followed Casey down the hall.

--

"Dude, Sam, this summer is going to be _sweet_! You and me, a whole summer of nothing but music and rocking out! This is going to be the greatest summer ever!"

Sam laughed, and pounded Derek's fist with his own, "I know! There's nothing like a summer music camp to help you get over girls!"

Derek gave Sam a look, "Dude, it's been a month since Sally broke it off with me. I'm alright. You can stop bringing it up like it was such a tragedy."

Sam shrugged, "So, looking forward to meeting any hot girls at the camp this summer?"

Derek grinned, "Maybe." Derek watched as two girls walked down the hall, his eyebrows rose, but then he turned back to Sam, "Who knows, maybe we can find you a girl this summer too!"

Sam shook his head, "Whatever dude! I just can't wait to leave the day after tomorrow! My mom's been getting on my case a lot lately, and I just can't wait to leave for the whole summer."

Derek closed his locker, having emptied the last bits of trash out of it, "I hear you there, my dad's been going on and on about how I need to take up more responsibility around the house. It's been getting really annoying. Just to shut him up I've been doing chores! Chores! I've even been nice to Casey! I've been going out of mind!"

"You do realize that Casey's not as bad as you make her out to be, right?"

Derek shoved him into a locker, "I don't need another 'Casey's really great' pep talk. I've already had to be nice to her for a whole week; don't make me sick with positive Casey talk!"

Sam rolled his eyes, "Whatever." He muttered and then he closed his own locker, "So, you did talk with your parents about me staying over tomorrow night so we could go to the camp together, right?"

Derek nodded as they walked away from the lockers, dodging the crowds, "Yeah, asked them last night. All my sucking up worked, they're no longer mad at me, so you're free to stay the night."

"Cool. Don't forget to pack before I get there. I don't feel like spending my first Mom-free night helping you pack!"

Derek laughed, "Fine! I'll do all my packing before you get there!"

"Good, maybe your room will be cleaner!"

Derek glared at him, and then began to walk faster, "Space Case is going to be waiting for me to take her home!" he groaned, "Talk to you tomorrow, Sammy!" he raised a hand in good-bye, and then took off.

Sam grinned, rolling his eyes, watching his best friend take off.

--

"What took you so long?" Casey asked, backing off the car where she had previously been leaning. She had her arms folded, and she was glaring at him.

"I'm two minutes late, sue me." He said, already tired of being around her, and it hadn't even been ten seconds.

Casey rolled her eyes, "Let's just go home so I can get away from you."

"For once in my life, I completely agree with you." He opened his door and slid in, starting the car.

She got into the passenger seat and sat with her arms crossed, and her lips shut tight. Derek rolled his eyes; she acted like it was a punishment for her not to talk to him. When in reality he enjoyed it. He smirked as he looked at the road ahead of him. Casey made a motion like she wanted to turn on the radio, thought better about it, and put her hand back in her lap. He grinned.

"You can turn it on, you know." He glanced over at her as she turned her head to him, mouth slightly open.

"Are you actually letting me turn on the radio in your car? Last I heard that privilege was reserved for you." The sarcasm was clear in her voice.

Derek rolled her eyes, "You're ruining it."

She bit her lip, and Derek wondered if she was trying not to smile, he rolled his eyes and turned back to the road. She pressed the button, turning the radio on and turned it to a random station. She began to move her head slightly to the music and she began to hum the lyrics. Derek personally couldn't stand the song, but didn't feel like getting into a fight, so he just tuned it out, trying to resist the urge to reach out and just shut the radio off.

The drive home wasn't long, but as soon as the car was turned off, Casey was out of it and hurrying into the house, like it had tortured her to be in the care for five minutes with Derek. He rolled his eyes, what a drama queen. He followed her into the house and ran up the stairs into his bedroom. He was looking more and more forward to the music camp for the summer. Being miles away from Casey would relieve him of his biggest annoyance.

He went on his computer, and logged onto the music camp's site. He began to look at all of the activities he would be taking part of this summer, and his annoyance with Casey faded away. He grinned as he settled back into his chair and looked at all the pictures from previous years; he couldn't wait to leave this house and Casey behind in the dust.


	2. Chapter 1: Something's Going On

**A/N: So, I know this is only a little bit bigger than the prologue, and I'm sorry. Once they actually get to the camp the chapters will be a lot longer, I promise!! **

**R&R, please!**

**-Jaclyn :)**

**Chapter One: Something's Going On**

"Yeah, and it's going to be so amazing, Lucy, I wish you could come!" Casey chattered excitedly on the phone to her dance friend. Lucy had sprained her ankle, and was not able to dance for another couple of weeks. Casey smiled as Lucy rambled on about how much she wanted to come and how she hated having a sprained ankle, "Don't worry I'll tell you all about it, and I'm sure that once your ankle heals, you'll be dancing better than ever!" Casey smiled as Lucy laughed into the phone, "I'll talk to you later, Lucy!"

She turned off the phone and set it down on her desk. She rubbed her eyes and looked away from her computer screen. She had spent her whole evening on the computer, researching the camp she was going to. The more she looked at the website, the more excited she was to go. Not even Derek could spoil her mood.

Her door opened.

Speak of the devil.

Derek walked right in her room, not bothering to knock at all, as usual. He came in and plopped down on her bed, looking over at her. He didn't say a word, just sat there with a smirk on his face.

"What?" she asked, impatiently, which made his smirk grow bigger. He always made things difficult for her.

He didn't answer but walked over to see what she was looking at on the computer. He laughed, "Dance camp? Ooh, sounds fun! Don't forget your tutu!" Sarcasm was dripping in his voice.

Casey rolled her eyes, and pushed him away, "What do you want Derek?"

He ignored her once more, "So, when does the bus to your lame camp leave?"

She sighed, "It leaves the day after tomorrow. Although I wish it left right now, so I wouldn't have to put up with you!"

Derek put a hand to his chest and mocked offensiveness, "Ouch that hurts, Case."

"You'll live." She turned back in her chair and began top shut off her computer.

"I leave for my camp the day after tomorrow too."

"Good for you." She stopped and then turned back to face him, "Wait, you're going to a camp?!"

Derek held his hands up as if in defense, "Before you go all judgmental, klutzilla, it's a music camp. Sam and I are going to help us with our music."

"Why isn't Ralph going?"

"His grandma's in the hospital, therefore his family needs him home for the summer."

"Oh. Well, okay, you're free to leave my room at anytime."

"How long is your camp?"

"All summer, why?"

"Just wanted to see how long the house would be Casey free. Looks like we're coming back at the same time though."

"Yours is all summer too?" Casey wasn't interested; she just wanted to get rid of him. Since when did he want to have conversations with her?

"Yeah, what are the chances that our camps start and end at the same time?"

"Maybe the same company runs them, but they're two different camps. I don't know! Why are you so interested in the similarities between my camp and yours?"

Derek shrugged, "Just thought I'd be nice."

"No, you're trying to stay out of trouble with your dad. So, do me a favor, and stop acting like you care." She glared at him.

He kept a straight face, but his eyes showed something that looked a lot like hurt as he exited the room. She rolled her eyes again and stood up from her desk. She went over to her vanity and sat down. She sighed as she looked at the reflection looking back at her, and was upset at how stressed she looked. It was a good thing she would be getting away from Derek for the summer, being around him during this past school year had almost stressed her to the breaking point.

She pulled the holder out of her hair, letting the long brown waves fall down around her shoulder. She rubbed her eyes and slid her necklace off of her neck for the night. She took one last look at her reflection and faked a smile to see what she looked like unstressed, but she could still see the stress hidden beneath her façade. She groaned and got up from the vanity, hating Derek for the effect he had on her stress levels.

--

Edwin watched as his older brother left his older step-sister's room. There was an odd look on his face. It was as if he was confused, but there was also something else, something like hurt. Edwin shook his head, Derek never showed any kind of pain like that, and especially not when he just came from _Casey's _room! Derek went straight into his room, without looking around at anything or anyone, so Edwin's spying was unseen. He hadn't even planned to spy; he had just been sitting on the staircase, trying to think of things to do this summer.

He ran down the rest of the stairs and knocked on Lizzie's door. The door slowly opened, and Lizzie looked at him through half-lidded eyes. She let out an irritated noise.

"What?"

"I just saw something interesting. I think we should write it in the notebook. And last I knew you had it."

Lizzie rolled her eyes and opened the door wider so Edwin could come in. She hated it when he got these 'brilliant' observations when she was trying to sleep. She closed the door behind him and watched as he sat at her desk. She crawled back onto her bed and raised her eyebrows at him.

"So, what 'amazing' thing did you observe this time?"

He didn't answer at first. He just sat at her desk, staring off into space. She cleared her throat. He sat up straighter as if her sound had pulled him out of a deep thought.

"Ed? What's up?"

"It's Derek."

"What about him?"

"He just came out of Casey's room…"

"He does that all the time. They're always going into each other's rooms. That's not anything new—"

"No." he cut her off. "He came out, and he had this weird look on his face. I thought I was seeing things, because for the first time in my life, I thought I saw _hurt _in Derek's eyes. And the only logical explanation is that something Casey said got to him, which means, that something's going on between them, because Casey has said thousands of mean things to him and never once did I see that look on his face."

It was Lizzie's turn to think deeply now, "Yeah, but maybe it's not what she said, maybe it's how she meant it."

Edwin raised his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

"You see, Derek and Casey have developed a predictable relationship. They make fun of each other all the time, but in the end, they resolve their differences, and they get along. So when they fight, they don't really mean it, so they do not really _hate_ each other, like everyone thinks."

"Oh, so it's like they're fighting, but not really meaning any of it?"

"Sort of; you see, they both feel threatened by each other's presence. Casey was the oldest until she moved here, and Derek was the oldest until we came. So, it's like they're constantly in battle to show each other who deserves to be the 'oldest'. Are you following me?"

Edwin nodded, "They fight, but it's just a competition. They don't really hate each other. But it's been so long since you guys have moved in, why do you think they're still fighting?"

"Because they're used to it; like I said they've developed a predictable way of living. Even though they're not really threatened anymore, they've gotten so used to fighting all the time that doing anything else seems ridiculous. Plus, I think, secretly they both enjoy it. Sometimes. And other times, Casey takes it a little personally. I don't think Derek has ever seen it as anything more than just having fun."

Edwin smiled, "You've been doing observing on your own, haven't you?"

Lizzie shrugged, "It's just stuff I've noticed; it's not rocket science."

"But there's still one thing I don't get."

"What's that?"

"If everything they've argued about before was just because they were used to it, then why was Derek looking the way he was tonight when he left Casey's room?"

"She must have said something that made him realize she was being serious. But it still is weird to have Derek showing any type of emotion besides laughter and anger."

Edwin nodded, "There's something going on with him. And I plan to find out."

They both stood up. Lizzie followed him to her door, "Good luck with that." She gently pushed him out of her room, "Now I'm going back to bed." And with that she closed the door on Edwin's grinning face.


	3. Chapter 2: Snoops

**A/N: So, I definitely didn't plan on taking it in this direction so soon, but Lizzie and Edwin being 'observers' is just toooo much fun to write! Don't worry, in the next couple of chapters they'll actually get to the camp! lol**

**R&R, please!**

**-Jaclyn :)**

**Chapter Two: Snoops**

_Knock. Knock. _

Derek sighed, if that was Casey, he was going to have to risk getting in trouble, because he was not going to be nice to her when he told her to go away. He called out a sound that was more irritated than welcoming, but it was taken as a sign to come in. Luckily it was Edwin, but Derek didn't like the look on his younger brother's face as he marched in.

"What's up, Edwin?" Derek looked up from his computer screen for a second, but then turned back to it, so it would be easier to deny anything that his brother had to accuse him of, because Derek recognized that face, it was his accusing face.

"I just happened to see you walking out of Casey's room a few minutes ago…"

Derek raised his eyebrows, "So?"

Edwin was tired of this response, "So, I was wondering what you were doing in there."

Derek shrugged, "Nothing."

"Do you usually go into Casey's room for no reason?"

Derek looked up at him, "What does it matter?"

Edwin went over to the bed and sat on it, "No. I was just curious."

"Well stop. It doesn't matter what I go into her room for."

"I think you're hiding something."

"Like what? Like Klutzilla's tutoring me in English?"

"I don't know. If you would just tell me, I wouldn't have to snoop."

"If you would stop snooping there wouldn't be anything to tell."

"Why were you in her room?"

"Why do you care so much?"

"Like I said, I'm just curious."

"Well, you're free to be curious somewhere else, because I'm tired of this."

Edwin looked over at his brother, but he had already turned back to his computer and was engrossed in whatever was on the screen. He sighed and left Derek's room, wondering why he wouldn't just tell him what was going on. He looked over at Casey's door and decided to see if she would tell him why Derek was in there. He knocked softly on the door, because he knew Casey hated loud knocking, and waited for her to open it.

She didn't move, but just called out to him to open the door, he could tell she was a bit hesitant, and he wondered if she thought he was Derek. He opened the door, and walked in, closing the door behind him. She smiled over at him, but turned back to her notebook that she was writing in on her bed.

"Hey, Casey." He said, smiling.

"Hi, Edwin," she sounded as if she was distressing, "What's up?"

"Um, I was just wondering, why Derek was in here a few minutes ago."

Casey's eyes flashed angrily, "He just wanted to annoy me, as usual."

"Is that it?"

Casey raised her eyebrows at him, "Yeah. Why? Did he say something else?"

Edwin shook his head, "No, it's just, I thought something else might have happened."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Did you two fight?"

"Edwin, Derek and I argue just about every time we're around each other."

"But did you say anything to him that maybe, might have hurt him?"

"Nothing I say ever means anything to him, Ed."

"If he was someone that did take things to heart, was there something you said that would have hurt him?"

Casey bit her lip in thought, looked down at her notebook, and then looked back up at him, "He said something about how he was just being nice, and I told him that he was just trying to stay out of trouble with his dad. And then I told him to leave." She shrugged, "But none of that would bother him."

Edwin nodded absently, as if he wasn't even paying attention anymore, "Thanks, Casey." He said, and then hurried out, not noticing her confused look after him.

He knocked on Lizzie's door, knowing that she would be really annoyed that he had woken her up again. The door slowly opened, and she glared at him.

"What now? I had just fallen back asleep."

He hurried in, not even waiting to be invited this time. She sighed, turned on the light, closed the door behind her, and went back over to her bed, looking over at him, clearly very annoyed.

"I found out why Derek looked hurt coming out of Casey's room earlier."

"Did he tell you?" She looked shocked.

"No, Casey told me what she said to him, but she also told me that it wouldn't have affected him."

"What did she say to him?"

"Well, he said something about how he was just being nice, and then she said that he was just trying to stay out of trouble with dad. And then she told him to get out."

"She says that kind of stuff to him all the time, though. Why would it hurt him now?"

Edwin looked away in thought, and then he suddenly turned back to Lizzie, "Because, he's changed."

"Changed, Derek? I haven't noticed anything."

"His personality hasn't changed. His _feelings_ have!"

"Derek has feelings?" Lizzie grinned, but Edwin didn't seem to hear her.

"Derek has been treating Casey a lot different lately. He's been a whole lot nicer to her."

"But he's been doing a lot of stuff to stay out of trouble with George."

"Yeah, but his attitude toward Casey, now that I think about it, changed before Dad got on to him last week."

"How so?"

"He still fights with her, but it seems like he's been trying to get her attention more now. And plus, all his plans seem to revolve around her somehow. It's weird, just last year he would have done anything to steer clear of her, and now he's doing all he can to make sure he's around her a lot. Even though he seems annoyed by that, if you look at his face when he thinks no one is looking, he actually looks happy."

Lizzie looked lost, "I'm not following you."

"Remember that time where Dad made Derek pay every time he said something mean?"

"Yeah; who could forget 'sensitive Derek'?"

"Well, I overheard Derek and Casey talking before the big game. She was asking for a ride, and he asked her if she was okay. And I've had Derek genuinely concerned for me every now and then, and it's a voice that you remember, because it's not heard often; and he was definitely genuinely concerned for her. I could here it in his voice. And then she asked if he was asking because he really cared, or because he had to be nice. He quickly said 'the second one'."

"Well, yeah, he wouldn't want her to think he cares about her, because he doesn't."

"But, you didn't hear him! He stuttered."

"He _stuttered_? Derek _never_ stutters!"

"I know! And he definitely did when he told her that. That means he was covering himself up, because he obviously didn't mean to let his 'genuinely concerned' voice slip out."

Lizzie nodded and looked away for a second, when she returned Edwin's gaze she had a smile on her face, "Do you know what this means?"

Edwin grinned, "I think so…"

"Derek _likes_ Casey! And not just in that he's getting along with her. He like-like likes her."

"That's a lot of likes."

Lizzie laughed, "Yeah, it is!"

"Do you think he knows that he likes her?"

"How could he not?"

"Well, Derek's not always in touch with his feelings, so he could like her, and totally be oblivious to it. Or maybe he doesn't want to accept it, so he's trying to deny it."

Lizzie nodded, "Hmm. We'll need to observe how he acts around her tomorrow before we can know that. Because if we try to ask him, he'll deny it either way. If he knows he likes her, he'll never let anyone know that he likes his step-sister. And if he doesn't know, he'll get angry at us for even suggesting that."

"I see your point. I guess Liz and Ed are on the case again!"

"This time, though, no hiding under the kitchen table." They both laughed.

"Deal."

"Now, for the last time tonight: Good night!" She cried, standing up and walking over to her door.

He grinned and followed her over. She opened it and watched him walk out, "Night, Liz."

"Night, Edwin." And with that, she closed the door on his smiling face for the second time that night.

--

Derek woke to the sound of someone knocking on his door. He lifted his head up, and narrowed his eyes. It was ten in the morning. The first day of summer, and he was being woken up before noon. This had better be important.

"What?!" he growled, not bothering to remove himself from the bed.

Casey opened the door a crack and peeked in. He rolled his eyes; she was the last person he wanted to see right after he woke up.

"What do you want?" he had never cared before if he sounded rude to her, and he most definitely didn't care now.

She looked a little taken aback, "Mom just wanted me to ask you if you wanted to come down for breakfast." She said in a small voice.

Now, Derek never felt bad for saying something, but he did feel, even if it was a very small amount, guilty for being so short with her. He dropped his head onto his pillow, so his face was hidden as he tried to remind himself that it was _Casey_ and that he shouldn't feel anything but annoyance toward her. He slowly lifted his head back up and looked at a spot just above her head.

"Tell her I'll be right down."

She nodded, and closed the door behind her. He let out a loud groan and rolled over so he was on his back. He stared at the ceiling and took a deep breath. Derek wasn't used to feeling guilt, and he most certainly wasn't used to feeling guilt for Casey. He rubbed his eyes. He just had to get through this day and then he and Sam would be off for a whole summer without Casey. He grinned, the hope of the Casey-less summer brightened his morning and he got out of bed, now realizing that he was hungry.

As he hurried down the stairs, he noticed that it was only Casey and Marti at the table. He briefly wondered where everyone else was, before he was distracted by the bacon on the table. He ran over, sat down at his seat and immediately started shoving bacon in his mouth. He felt someone's eyes on him and looked up, only to find his gaze met with Casey's. She quickly looked down at her own plate, but Derek looked at her for a little bit longer. Why had she been looking at him? She had been almost as rude as him last night to him, and yet now, she acted as if nothing had happened. Scratch that, she was acting as if she were guilty. He narrowed his eyes at her bent head. Why would she feel guilty? She had said much worse things than that.

He rolled his eyes and then went back to his bacon.

--

"Did you see that? The way he looked at her made her look away."

"I think she just didn't want him to notice that she had been watching him."

"She looks guilty; maybe she knows that she hurt him last night."

"Nah, how could she know that?"

"I don't know. Wait, why is he still looking at her?"

"She doesn't even seem to notice."

"Maybe he really does like her."

"Did you doubt it?"

"No, it's just weird to see proof."

"Oh, there goes his eye roll; he must not know he likes her."

"Seriously, I don't think he can like someone and not know it."

"Well, maybe he just doesn't want to like her, so he's trying to make himself think he doesn't.

"Maybe."

"He's looking at her again."

"What?"

"Look, he's watching her."

"No, he's looking at something behind her head."

"You are such an idiot; he's looking right at her. Look she's noticed."

"What did she say?"

"She asked if there was something on her face."

"Did he answer?"

"Yeah, he said that she had a bat in the cave."

"Oh, there her hands go to her nose."

"He's back to eating his bacon now."

"I can see that."

"Sorry."

"Are they talking?"

"Nope."

"What's Marti doing?"

"She's singing while she eats her cereal."

"I can't hear her."

"Maybe you should have your ears checked."

"Shut up."

"She's singing under her breath. Derek and Casey probably can't even hear her."

"Then how do you know she's singing?"

"She always sings in the mornings."

"Oh."

"Quick, go into the laundry room, Casey's finished her plate!"

Edwin and Lizzie finished their whispered observation discussion, and quickly made their way from behind the island to behind the half wall dividing the kitchen and the laundry room. They peered out and watched as she put her plate in the sink. Derek was right behind her, his empty plate in his hand. He put it in the sink, and then ran his shoulder into hers as he walked away. She made a face, opened her mouth to protest, but then shut it quickly, noticing that he was no longer even in the kitchen.


	4. Chapter 3: Sam Knows

**A/N: Slowly, but surely, these chapters are getting longer with each one I write. I had so much fun writing the second part of this. :D And I hope you have fun reading it. Don't worry, next chapter is when they leave, and you will all find out how it is that they end up in the same camp! :D OOOOH, exciting. haha. **

**R&R, please!**

**-Jaclyn :)**

**Chapter Three: Sam Knows **

Derek was no where around when Sam knocked on the door that afternoon. Casey was the one to let him in, and although it was summer, and that meant Derek was usually in his chair watching television, he was not even downstairs at all. As soon as Casey had come down the stairs two hours ago, Derek had shut off the T.V he had previously been watching, tossed the remote onto the couch, and ran up the stairs. She had been confused at first, but then shrugged it off, and took advantage of the T.V time.

"Hey, Sam." Casey said, smiling warmly at him, as she leaned on the open door.

"Hey, Case. Is Derek around?"

"To be honest I haven't seen him in over two hours. He must be up in his room."

Sam laughed, "He better be packing."

Casey laughed along with him, "Fat chance, but you can go on ahead up there."

He nodded, "Thanks."

"Sure." She followed him up the stairs, but went into her own room just as he reached Derek's door.

He didn't even bother to knock, he never did. He knew the rest of the family did, but he didn't care. He never knocked on Derek's door, never had.

Derek had his back to the door, but he obviously heard it open, "Casey, I'm packing, so leave me alone."

Dam cleared his throat and Derek whipped his head around. He instantly grinned and hurried over to him, slapping his best friend's hand, "Hey, Sammy!"

Sam laughed, "Annoyed with Casey?"

"When am I not?"

Sam laughed again, "True. So, you're packing?"

"Have been for the last hour and a half; IU never thought it would be so hard trying to find a whole summer's worth of socks!"

Sam shook his head, grinning, "Well, don't ask me for help, I don't feeling like digging in your room only to find God knows what!"

Derek laughed, "Not to worry, I'm just about done."

He stuffed on last t-shirt in, and then zipped up his duffel bag, "Alright, I'm good." As he straightened up, he noticed Sam looking at him, eyebrows raised, "What?"

"Nothing, I just noticed that you packed the shirt that Casey got you for Christmas."

Derek scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. He unzipped the bag and saw that the shirt he had just packed was the long-sleeved, collared, button up dress shirt Casey had given him last Christmas. He felt the need to snatch it up out of the bag, but just let it sit there as he zipped the bag up again. He shrugged, "It's a cool shirt."

"But do you really need a long-sleeve shirt at a _summer_ camp?" there was a grin playing at the corner of Sam's mouth now.

Derek rolled his eyes, "You do know there will be girls at this camp, right? That shirt makes me look hot."

"And the fact that Casey gave it to you means nothing, right?"

Derek shrugged once more, "She got lucky picking out a shirt, big deal. And why are you so interested in a stupid shirt, anyway?"

Sam shook his head, "I was just curious, is all. Wanna go play some Babe Raider?"

"Can't."

"Why not?"

"Lizzie went on this environment-saving mission, and decided that video games, movies and computer games are 'corrupting the teenage minds of this generation'. Haven't been able to play anything in about three weeks."

"And you're just going along with this?"

"Normally I would have hid some games and movies in my room, but she had gotten everything and hid them in a really good spot before I even got home that day. I've searched everywhere and have yet to find anything. I've barely been able to watch T.V, because everytime she sees me watching it she turns it off and goes into this whole long lecture about how I could be outside exercising or doing something more productive with my time. By the time she's done I don't even want to watch the dang thing."

Sam couldn't help but laugh, "Who knew your step-sister had such a powerful impact on your life."

For some reason Derek's mind went to Casey when Sam said this, but he quickly pushed the thought away, and complained more about Lizzie's strike. Sam looked interested for a minute or so, but then he told Derek that he would be right back. Derek nodded, and as his best friend left he unzipped his bag one more time and looked at the shirt, torn between wanting to take it out and throw it across the room, and wanting to make sure it didn't get messed up being closed in there like that.

He disgusted himself.

--

Sam was on his way back from the bathroom when he heard Edwin and Lizzie talking in Lizzie's room. He couldn't help but overhear random words like 'Casey', 'Derek', 'staring at her', and 'he likes her'. He grinned; it was good to know that he was not the only who had noticed Derek's change in behavior toward Casey.

He smiled and then walked back into Derek's room, only to find that he was no longer there.

--

"What are you doing, Derek?"

She didn't sound annoyed like she had been last night when he barged in unannounced; she just sounded curious.

He didn't answer her, and like last night, this did annoy her. He didn't look at her; he just walked over to her closet. She raised an eyebrow, her annoyance leaving, only to be replaced with even more curiosity. She didn't say a word, because she knew that either stop him and she would never know what he was doing. Or it would make him annoyed, and they would get into a fight, and she still would never know what he was doing.

He pulled out a shirt and showed it to her, "Are you packing this?"

She was a little taken aback by his sudden interest in her clothing, but she shook her head, "It's too hot for long sleeves."

"Oh." He put it back, but continued to look at it.

She looked at the shirt again, and realized it was the shirt Derek had given her a week after Christmas. He had not gotten her a gift that year, and after she got him a shirt, his parents forced him to go shopping to buy her a present. He had decided to go with the clothing option, and had bought a shirt that had instantly become one of her favorites. He had told himself that it was not because he had bought it but because she liked the design. But it didn't make him feel any better.

She was really starting to wonder what was going on with him. She had been so irritated with him last night, but the look in his eye as he left made her feel horrible. So, she decided that for one day, their last day around each other for the whole summer, she could be nice. But he was acting real weird and nice or not, she was going to figure out why.

But, her thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on her door. She hurried over to it, taking note in how Derek didn't even stir slightly at the noise. She opened the door and wasn't surprised to see Sam there.

"Hey, again."

"Hey, Derek isn't in here, is he?"

She immediately pointed to her left, and he walked in without invitation and over to his best friend. He followed his gaze to the shirt he was looking at and raised his eyebrows. He then went back to Casey, who was staring outside her door absentmindedly. He cleared his throat and, with a start, she came back to him.

"What's up with him?" he whispered, but Casey could only shrug in answer.

"Honestly, I couldn't tell you. He's been acting real strange lately, but only around me."

Sam resisted the urge to roll his eyes; how could they _both _be so clueless? He sighed, and then whispered again, "Pack the shirt, it'll make him happy."

He left, but not before he smiled at the shocked, yet curious face Casey made at him.

She slowly walked over to the closet, and knowing Derek wasn't even seeing the shirt anymore, she yanked it off the hanger. Although his vision had not been focused on the article of clothing before him, he was shaken out of his thoughts by the movement.

His eyes followed Casey as she brought the shirt over to her suitcase. He didn't turn his head until she actually unzipped the case and gently placed the now-folded shirt on top of all her other clothes. A smile tried to form on his lips, but before he could let them turn upwards, he hurried out of her room and back onto his, wondering when he had turned into someone who cared.

Scratch that; someone who cared about _Casey_.

--

Dinner was an _interesting_ event, to say the least. It started out normally, everyone sitting down, loading food onto their plates, and then Derek started talking.

"So, Klutzilla, are you sure this camp will let you in, with your _record_?" he smirked his infamous smirk, and raised his eyebrows at her.

She glared at him, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, come on, that whole thing with Cory Plunkett's butt, and the stairs last year. Oh, not to mention you sent Greg James to the hospital two months ago because you tripped over yourself and sent him flying over the railing onto the next floor." He laughed, "Ah that was priceless."

Sam nudged Derek with his elbow, slightly shaking his head; warning him to stop.

"Shut up, Derek."

"Oh, did I touch a nerve?"

She kicked her foot out in front of her to kick his shins, but she accidentally kicked Sam instead. Sam had been in the process of grabbing a bowl of peas, and the kick made him lose his grip on the bowl, and it went flying onto Lizzie's head. Lizzie, surprised by the newfound hat, slammed her hand down onto the table, hitting her fork, and making it land on Edwin's head. Edwin, who had been so into his dinner that he hadn't noticed anything before the fork, sat up straight, shocked, and his spoonful of mashed potatoes, currently on its way to his mouth, was flung into Marti's face.

Marti did not like this. She took a big scoop of her own potatoes and flung them at Edwin's face. Edwin was now aware of the peas on Lizzie's head, and laughed at her. When the potatoes hit him in the face, he tossed a roll at Marti. Lizzie, in efforts to make the two of them stop, threw her spoon at Edwin. It hit his chest and fell into his lap. In retaliation, he took an ice cube out of his drink and tossed it at Lizzie. She was so shocked by the cold; her hand flicked out and hit her own drink. The cup fell onto its side and its contents were spilled all onto Casey's lap. This made Derek crack up with laughter.

Now, Casey was not usually one to act on such a ridiculous impulse, but after watching their younger siblings throw things around, she couldn't resist. She grabbed her spoon, dipped it in her mashed potatoes and quickly flung them at Derek's face before he even realized what was going on. His grin immediately disappeared, and he grabbed his roll throwing it with all his might at her head. Normally, Derek had good aim, but he had not suspected Casey to move her head.

It hit her square in the eye, and when the roll slid off her face and into her soaked lap, the eye was closed, and the skin around it was very red. Derek normally didn't feel guilty, but he did feel a bit _bad_for actually hurting her. She apparently did not see any remorse in his face, however, because she stood up, took her glass in her hand, and threw the contents all over Derek.

Derek was shocked by this sudden act, and he accidentally slapped Sam in the face with his flailing arm. Sam did not expect anything to hit him and had been in the middle of chewing his chicken. The shock of the hit made him spit out a piece of his chewed meat. Unfortunately, this little piece oh chewed food hit Lizzie square on the forehead. This made Edwin laugh hysterically, and Marti and Lizzie squeal in disgust. As she wiped her forehead with her napkin, she glared at Edwin. Marti, knowing how mad Lizzie was at Edwin for laughing, threw her own roll at him and hit him in the ear with it.

This had all happened so fast, that Nora and George had no time to stop any of it. But now they looked from a completely soaked Derek, to Casey with a red, closed eye, and a soaked lap, to Sam with a red hand mark on his face, to Lizzie with peas smashed into her hair, and using a napkin to vigorously wipe her face, to Edwin who was wearing mashed potatoes, to Marti, who was also wearing potatoes.

No one could even recall what happened to start this chain of events, but they decided that dinner was now over.

"Rooms! Now!" George said, angrily, as Nora scowled at the kids with disapproval, "And Lizzie, go take a shower to get those peas out of your hair."

The six of them tromped up the stairs, not talking, but shooting silent glares at one another. Casey was the first to reach her bedroom door. She glared at Derek one last time with only one good eye, and then with a huff, she entered her room, slamming the door behind her. Derek stared at the door for a moment, before Sam pushed him into his own room, following him. Lizzie went into her room only to grab a change of clothes before hurrying into the bathroom to take a shower, taking a brief second to glare at Edwin.

Marti was no longer mad, but she really wanted the potatoes off of her. She pushed past Edwin as he tried to make his way to the stairs leading up to his room, and began to knock on the bathroom door, wanting Lizzie to let her in so she could wash the food off of her. The door opened slightly and the little girl slipped in. Edwin rolled his eyes and ran up to his room, closing the door behind him.

--

"Dude, why?"

Derek looked over at Sam, eyebrows raised, "Why what?"

"Why do you always start something with her? Can't you just leave Casey alone for once?"

Derek shrugged, making a point not to answer him.

"Stop avoiding it, Derek. Either you truly hate the girl, or there's something else going on."

Derek turned away, and looked at the ceiling. He was sitting on his bed, while Sam was sitting at his desk. Sam watched him carefully, wanting to make sure he didn't miss even the smallest sign of the truth.

Derek sighed, "Give it a rest, Sam. You keep going on and on about Casey and how great she is. You keep hinting at the fact that there's something going on; it's like you think I like her or something." Derek instantly shut his mouth, and returned his gaze to the uninteresting spot on the ceiling, but Sam grinned. The way Derek had reacted to his own statement had said it all. There were now no suspicions in Sam's mind. Only solid facts.


	5. Chapter 4: One Big Mix Up

**A/N: So, I am totally in love with writing this story!! I have so many ideas for later on. Derek's feelings are something I want to bring up. I've written them very confusedly, because that's how I'm trying to portray Derek feeling. Confused. He knows he likes her, but he still can't stand her at times. He's very torn, and I imagine that's how he would be if this really happened. Not saying that how I'm writing it is how it would happen in the show, not at all. I just think he'd be real confused about his feelings for her. :D **

**So, there are some new characters intrudced in this chapter, and you'll need to remember them. Here are the people who inspired their looks and for some of them, their attitudes as well, so you can picture them in your mind:**

**Ellie: Hermione Granger from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (ONLY that movie. lol)**

**Greg: Peter Petrelli from Heroes (First Season ONLY) **

**Bianca: Jackie Wilcox from Heroes**

**Lisa: Lisa from Zathura (or for those who are into Twilight, the actress who will be playing Bella! lol)**

**Aaron: Jason Teaque from Smallville **

**R&R, please!**

**-Jaclyn :)**

**Chapter Four: One Big Mix Up**

Morning came quickly, but not quick enough for two teenagers that were eager to get out of each other's presence. Casey woke up a lot earlier than Derek, but when he did wake up, they ended up being in each other's way a lot. As she was brushing her teeth, he came tumbling into the bathroom, half-awake, his eyes not fully open. He bumped into her, accidentally, and made her spit toothpaste all over the mirror. He lazily made some witty sarcastic remark, but she huffed away hurriedly to get away from him.

When he was pouring himself a bowl of cereal, she was bustling around the kitchen, trying to make sure she had everything, and she bumped into him, making the cereal box fly out of his hand. He groaned as he watched it fall to its side and spill its contents onto the floor. He was going to call out to her and make her help him, but he realized that she was no longer in the kitchen.

The whole family was grateful when the time came to take them off in separate directions to their separate buses to their separate camps. Needless to say, everyone was fed up with the fighting. And Nora and George were still not over the whole food fight last night, so they were very cold with the two. George packed Sam and Derek up in the Prince, and got ready to drive them to their bus.

Nora helped Casey get all her things into their family car, and she took Casey, Edwin, Lizzie, and Marti to Casey's bus.

Casey had said good-bye to Sam and George, but when she had gotten to where she would normally have said good-bye to Derek, she scoffed, and walked away. Derek scowled and sank into the passenger seat of his car. He honked the horn as George was saying good-bye to Nora, and made his father give him a look of disapproval. He shrugged, he didn't care, he just wanted to get out of there.

Both cars were very silent, and neither teenager said a word to anyone around them. Edwin and Lizzie had their heads together and they were whispering so softly no one could hear them. Marti was humming to herself, quietly, staring out her window with a dreamy look on her face. She was in her own world, as usual. Casey wished she could be as lucky. She would give anything to have a world of her own where there was no Derek to ruin her life.

Derek on the other hand, couldn't stop thinking about her; as much as he hated himself for it, he was thinking about how mad she was at him last night. She had been trying to be nice all day, and what did he do? Ruin it. Like he always did. Whenever Casey was nice, he had to ruin it. Why? Because he, Derek Venturi was a coward. No, not a coward in the sense of scared of every little thing, but a coward because he knew that as soon as Casey started being nice to him, and he began to be nice back, he would get in over his head, and soon he wouldn't be able to control himself around her.

He had known for quite some time that he had an attraction to her. Why else would he make her life a living hell? He had to do something besides hit on her. He had started annoying her from the very beginning because he knew that if he didn't do something, he would find himself falling for his step-sister, and this would not be accepted by anyone. Least of all himself. So, he had forced himself to hate her. Annoy her every chance he got. Challenged her. But as time went on, he stopped being so mean, and his jokes and pranks were purely out of fun. Once he had put the thought that he liked her out of his head, he found pure joy in driving her crazy.

But, a few months ago, just before the whole Sally thing, he had begun to get those feelings again. That is why he tried to stay away from girls altogether. But then he met Sally, and he knew that she would be the perfect distraction from Casey. She was blonde, funny, and didn't go on and on about her problems. She was the perfect distraction.

The downside of having someone be a distraction: having that someone find out she is a distraction. It probably wasn't hard to figure out. Whenever it was the three of them, his attention was always on Casey, not Sally. Even if he was just poking fun or making her miserable, his eyes were on her, and only her. To be honest, he really wasn't surprised that Sally broke up with him because of it. After the break-up, he decided that distractions wouldn't work, so he just through himself into finding more and more ways to get under Casey's skin.

Sometimes she would blow up, and other times she would just roll her eyes and ignore him. But he always got a reaction. And so, that was how he hid his feelings for her. He searched and searched for any type of attention from her, and she would never know that it was because he actually felt something for her. He had almost blown all his hard work when he asked her about that stupid shirt. Sam had been right, as usual. He was packing the shirt Casey got him, because Casey had gotten it for him. He wanted to see if she was going to do the same. He had been severely disappointed. For a few moments he was actually thinking about the one-sidedness of the situation. He liked her, she couldn't stand him.

It figured he would pack her shirt but she wouldn't pack his. He had come very close to ruining the front he had spent over a year building because he had almost shown feelings. He hated himself for even having the freaking feelings, but he couldn't help it, the attraction had always been there, and he, being the guy he was, had immediately noticed it. He groaned and rubbed his eyes; maybe he could find a girl at camp that would, for once, do what no other girl could ever do: Help him forget about Casey.

--

Casey had not expected many guys to be going to the dance camp. She had known there would be a few, but she had not known that there were so many male dancers in the area. She smiled; maybe she could even find a summer romance. She got out of the car and looked around at all the dancers, male and female. They were all very toned and graceful looking. She was definitely going to like this.

She got her bags out of the trunk, and as Edwin was helping her load them into the storage cabinets on the bottom of the bus, a girl with bushy brown hair, bounced up to her and stuck out her hand in greeting.

"Hi there! I'm Ellie!"

Casey smiled warmly at the girl, feeling welcome already, "I'm Casey."

"Nice to meet you Casey." Ellie smiled brightly and shook Casey's hand.

Edwin patted Casey's shoulder in good-bye and then hurried back over to the car. She quickly waved at her family in the car, and then turned back to Ellie.

"Is this is your first year coming to Camp Light-On-Your-Feet?" Ellie asked as they slowly began to follow the large crowd to the bus doors.

Casey nodded, "And I'm so excited."

Ellie grinned, "It is very exciting. I've gone the past four years and I've loved it every year."

Casey noticed that there were people from thirteen to eighteen. The younger ones looked nervous and excited. The older ones looked confident and sure of themselves. It was obvious to Casey that most of these people had been going to the camp since they were thirteen. She felt someone bump into her from behind her and she was thrown forward. Two sets of hands caught her on either arm before she could fall to the ground. She was straightened up and she turned to see who had helped her.

She was immediately looking up into a gorgeous pair of brown eyes that were almost hidden by a lock of straight brown hair that fell onto the boy's forehead. She smiled at him, and when he smiled apologetically in return she felt her knees buckle and her heart melt.

"I am so sorry about that. I was watching where I'm going. Apparently I haven't gotten Light-On-My-Feet yet." He laughed and she chuckled nervously. He readjusted the bag that was on his shoulder and stuck out his hand as Ellie had done, "I'm Greg, by the way. You must be new, I haven't seen you before."

Ellie took this time to rejoin the conversation, "Yeah, she's a first timer."

Greg smiled politely at Ellie and nodded. He then turned back to Casey, "Well, it was nice meeting you, uh—"

"Casey!" she cried, and shook his still outstretched hand. She laughed nervously, but he just grinned, and if he noticed the red on her cheeks, he did nothing to show it.

"Greg! There you are!" a tall blonde girl with a snotty look on her face pushed her way through the crowd and attached herself to Greg's arm. Greg grimaced, but then smiled down at her.

"Hey, Bianca." He said, and then turned to the two girls before him, "B, this is Casey, she's a first year this year."

"How cute, I'm sure no one will even notice that you're new." She said, and the way she said it made Casey very nervous that everyone would notice.

Greg cleared his throat uncomfortably, "And you remember Ellie, right?"

Bianca gave Ellie a fake smile and she turned her head to the side.

"This is my girlfriend, Bianca," he said, sounding a bit defeated. She began to drag him away and he waved quickly, "See you later!" he called, and then they were both out of sight.

Ellie sighed, "That is one lucky girl."

"Yeah, lucky but totally stuck up. I can't believe someone that seemed so nice like Greg would go for someone like her."

"Oh, he didn't always."

Casey turned to Ellie, eyebrows raised.

"When I was fourteen and he was fifteen, we sort of had a thing at this camp. But then we got back home and we realized it was just a summer romance, and that the spark had died." She sighed again, "The next year, Bianca found him. She wasn't snotty and she wasn't mean. As hard as it is to imagine, the way she just was, but she was actually really friendly. She and I, at one point, were even what you could call best friends. The three of us always hung out, and we were pretty much inseparable. But then, she accused me of still liking Greg, and she could mad at me, and made Greg choose either her or me. He chose her, because, like I said, at the time she was friendly. Greg and I have never been the same since, and Bianca still hates me."

"Wow, sounds like a lot of drama."

"Oh yes, yes it was. But, I'm over it, and apparently he is, sort of. But once she gets it into her mind that she hates someone, she hates them forever. I can tell Greg doesn't like her anymore, but he's just such a nice guy, he doesn't know how to break it off. When we broke up, it was mutual, but he just can't stand breaking girls' hearts."

Casey nodded, "Gotcha."

"Wanna sit with me on the bus?" Ellie asked, returning to her normal, peppy self.

"I'd love to!" And with that, the two of them entered the bus and sat down near the back, talking about the camp to come and which types of dance they liked the most.

--

Derek and Sam grinned as they pulled into the parking lot where the bus was loading teenagers of all sorts to take them to Camp Stardom. Derek had hated how cheesy the name was, but he soon got over it once he saw all the things it offered. As he and Sam got out of the car and grabbed their bags out of the trunk, they were surprised at all the different types of people there were.

There were rockers. They had on their band t-shirts, and looked like they didn't give a crap about the world. There were the punks, who were dressed all in black, wore eyeliner, whether guy or girl, and had their arms folded as they talked to each other. There were even some poets. They wore bright clothing and spoke in soft tones. One of the poet girls reminded him severely of Casey, so he quickly diverted his attention.

He and Sam put their bags on the bus and then began to scope out everyone around them, after saying a quick good-bye to George. Sam instantly found a brunette that he thought was attractive, and he dragged Derek over to where she was standing. It was a group of people. And she happened to be the only girl. As soon as Sam and Derek approached, all but one of the guys left the group, leaving only the brunette a tall boy with short, dirty blonde hair.

"Hey, I'm Sam." Sam offered, sticking out his hand to shake the boy's hand, and then the girl's.

"I'm Aaron." The boy said simply.

The brunette smiled up at Sam, "I'm Lisa. Are you here with your band?"

Sam turned to Derek, "Only one member. Our drummer couldn't make it. Are you?"

"Yeah, we've been coming for the past two years." Lisa grinned over at Aaron, "This guy right here plays a mean bass guitar."

"Really?" Sam looked over at Aaron as well, "I play bass too!"

Aaron raised his eyebrows, "You any good?"

"I like to think so."

Derek cut in, "He's the best." He said confidently, putting his hand on Sam's shoulder.

"And you would be?" Aaron asked.

"Derek."

"Right. What do you do?"

"Lead guitar. Lead singer." Derek bragged.

"You sing?" Aaron looked skeptical.

"Yeah. Why?"

"You just don't look like the type who sings." Aaron shrugged.

"I said I sang, I didn't say I sang well." The two laughed. Sam joined in, but Lisa just looked at the three boys, a smile on her lips.

"So, I think we should all sit together. I'm sure the rest of the guys won't mind, right Aaron?"

Aaron shrugged again, "I dunno. But I think it's cool."

Lisa turned around and called the guys that had left the group back over. As they were making their way back to the group, Lisa turned back to Sam and flashed him a brilliant smile. He smiled in return and Derek rolled his eyes. Figures Sam would have great luck finding a hot girl that was into him before the camp even started.

The world hated him. Casey hated him. That meant that life hated him. He rolled his eyes, he sounded like a freaking soap opera. He spotted a tall blonde with brilliant curves and smirked. Distraction number one of the summer.

She spotted him looking at her, smiled, and waved flirtatiously. He was just about to walk over to her and begin hitting in her, when a tall guy with jet black hair hurried over to her from somewhere behind Derek and instantly began kissing her.

Life hated him.

--

Casey's bus ride was uneventful. She and Ellie spoke most of the time, and every now and then they caught glimpses of Greg as he tried to go to as many people as possible to get away from Bianca.

Derek's bus ride sucked, for lack of a better ride. He had tried to lean his head up against the glass of the window as they left the parking lot, and they chose that moment to go over a curb. His head had slammed into the glass painfully, and for more than half the ride his head had pounded.

As Casey's bus stopped, she had butterflies in her stomach.

As Derek's bus stopped, he was very grumpy and hating life just as much as it hated him.

Casey got off the bus and saw another bus across the parking lot. "That's weird," Ellie said, looking at the bus, "There's usually only one bus."

Derek got off the bus and closed his eyes. "Weird," he heard Lisa say to Sam and Aaron, "There's not supposed to be another bus here."

Slowly, but surely, Casey's group and Derek's group met in the middle of the parking lot. Casey was in the front of hers and Derek in the front of his. Casey saw him first. But right after she saw him, he noticed her. They hurried over to each other, Casey annoyed, Derek, confused.

"Derek?!" she cried at the same time he cried, "Casey?!"

"What are you doing here?" they yelled at the same moment.

"This is_ my_ camp!" Casey was fuming, but Derek was just curious as to why this was happening.

Casey folded her arms over her chest and Derek ran his fingers through his hair. They both sighed, Casey having no problem hiding her annoyance. Derek was torn between wanting to stare at her and wanting to hate her for hating him all at once.

And then a tall man with black hair, accompanied by two other adults, one male, one female, called for their attention as he stood in front of the two groups. Every teenager turned to face him and Derek and Casey both pushed their way to the front to see what was going on.

"I'm sure you're all wondering what's going on…" the man started apologetically.

"Ya think?!" Casey growled sarcastically glaring over at Derek.

"But there's a very simple answer."

"There better be." Derek muttered, trying not to look at Casey.

"Both camps booked the same campsite. Now, it's too late to fix this." there were many groans, but Derek and Casey's were the loudest, "But! You all can still have your camps! There's plenty of campground for everyone! It'll be fine!"

Derek saw Casey roll her eyes and she hurried back over to a bushy-haired girl, not glancing back at Derek. He was torn between happiness because he would be spending a whole summer around her, and torture, because he would be spending a whole summer around her.


	6. Chapter 5: ‘Bonding’

**Chapter Five: 'Bonding'**

The auditorium was overly crowded. It was clear to everyone that this campground was not meant to hold two whole camps. Casey was squished between Ellie and Greg a bit uncomfortably, but she would admit to herself, that being very close to Greg was not a bad thing; especially when he smelt so good.

Derek on the other hand, had been shoved ahead in the crowd and had lost Sam, Lisa, and even Aaron. He was stuck between some scrawny male dancer and a very punk-looking girl. He tried to cross his arms over his chest, but he couldn't even move them from his sides. He settled for a scowl instead. The male dancer beside him was eagerly talking to the girl on the other side of him, and Derek couldn't help but be jealous. It seemed everyone at this freaking camp was having better luck with girls than he was. So much for Derek 'Ladies Man' Venturi and 'Triple D'. Those nicknames flew out the window this summer. His scowl grew deeper.

The same man with black hair that had told them about the mix up walked onto the large stage in front of the group a microphone in his hand. He looked out at all the teenagers with a smile on his face.

"Welcome, everyone. I know that this situation is a little uncomfortable, and that it may seem that you're not going to have the space you need for your camp; but you're wrong! I have talked with all of your instructors and they are willing to do a little work on the schedules so that both camps can work smoothly and efficiently. Tomorrow morning at breakfast everyone will get their new schedules for the summer." He paused, "Now, for the sleeping arrangements. There are two sets of cabins. One is on the far right side of the grounds, the other on the far left. All the girls, whether here for dance or music will be sleeping in the cabins on the right side. Boys, you _all_ will be sleeping in the ones on the left side. Now, because of the amount of campers _every_ bed must be used. Even if the whole rest of the cabin is filled with someone from the other camp, if all the rest of the cabins are full, you will need to use the bed in that cabin. Now, I will release you to go grab your bags and then get settled in the cabins. We'll meet back here in an hour and a half!"

And with that everyone stood up and made their slow way out of the auditorium. Derek hung around until almost everyone else was out, because he did not want to be pushed around in the crowd anymore. He finally stood up as the last twelve or so people were exiting the doors. The person he was following happened to be Casey. He tried not to draw attention to this fact, and tried to stay behind her so she wouldn't see him, but she knew that someone was behind her, and she just glanced at him real quickly. At first he thought he was safe, because she did not turn around and immediately start glaring at him or yelling, but then she whipped her head back around to face him. She slowed so she was in step with him and looked up at him.

"You didn't know anything about this, did you?" she asked, stuffing her hands in her pockets.

Derek shook his head, "How could I?"

"Well, you were just going on about the similarities about our two camps; it was almost as if you knew this was going to happen." She didn't sound accusatory, for once, she just sounded curious, as if trying to get to the bottom of this.

"Nope. I had no clue, hence the surprise when I saw you earlier."

"Oh." She was quiet for a second, and then cleared her throat, "Derek?"

"Yeah?" he wasn't looking down at her, he couldn't, he had almost blown it when he went in her room the day before, who knew what would happen looking into her eyes this close to her.

"I know this isn't what we wanted, but since we probably will be seeing each other a lot this summer, can we, you know, _try_ and be nice to each other? Maybe, we can pretend that we just met, so that we can actually just get along this summer?"

Derek thought about this for a moment, he knew that if he didn't agree to this, she would be extremely mad at him, but he also knew that if he agreed, he would be nice to her, and that was the one thing he had tried not to do, because he feared he would show his true feelings. He turned to face her, stopping. She stopped as well, looking up at him.

He stuck out his hand, "Hi, I'm Derek." He grinned as a smile brightened her face.

She put her hand in his, and although they had shaken hands before, Derek never realized how much he liked having her had in his. Oh, how he disgusted himself sometimes.

"I'm Casey; it's nice to meet you."

"Same here." they let go of each other's hands and began walking again.

"So, are you here for the dance camp?" Casey asked, biting back a laugh at their new way to get along.

"Not a chance." Derek said, and Casey raised her eye-brows, "Don't tell anyone I told you this, but I have two left feet."

Casey let out a loud laugh and Derek smiled. He could get used to this.

"What about you?" he asked after she had stopped laughing.

"Dance. I've been in dance since I was a little kid. I love it."

"I can actually see you as a dancer."

"Why is that?"

"You just look like one, that's all."

Casey laughed, "Thanks. So if you're not here for dance, you must be here for the music one, right?"

"Yep, I'm lead guitarist and lead singer."

"You sing?"

He nodded; why is that people thought that he didn't look like a singer?

"Sing something for me." She didn't demand it; it was more like a plea, a very small one, but a plea none the less. Derek would have laughed himself silly if a week ago someone would have told him Casey would give him a plea.

He vigorously shook his head, "No, I don't think so."

"Oh, come on! You sing in front of people for your band, why not me?" she stuck out her bottom lip and made her eyes wide.

He shook his head once more, "One, that face isn't fair! Two, I just met you."

Casey opened her mouth to protest, but then remembered that that was their plan.

"And three, I told you I sang. I never told you that my singing was worth hearing."

She laughed, "Oh, I'm sure it's not that bad. As long as you don't do any of that scream-o stuff, I can't stand it." She laughed once more, and he chuckled with her.

"Trust me; you don't want to hear my voice."

"Fine. But, whenever your band plays, let me know, I'd like to hear it."

Derek nodded, "Sure thing." He knew that she was just pretending, trying to make it feel like they had never met, but deep down, he felt extremely happy at her seemingly genuine interest in hearing him sing.

He looked over at his bus and saw Sam waving at him, telling him to come over. He looked back down at Casey, "I've gotta go, my friend's calling me. It was nice meeting you, Casey." He smirked; half of it was true. The meeting part, totally not true, but it was nice, talking to her, and not getting into a fight, he could most definitely get used to this.

"Nice meeting you to, Derek." Casey laughed and shook her head, it was fun pretending they had never known each other. It made them forget their differences and just be two normal teenagers.

Derek waved once more and then ran across the parking lot and over to Sam. Sam had already put his bags and Derek's bags together, having gotten them off the bus. Derek thanked him, grabbed his duffel bag, and threw his backpack over his shoulder. As he and Sam began to follow all the boys to the cabins, Sam raised his eyebrows and turned to his best friend.

"So, what were you and Casey talking about?"

Derek had been grinning, looking over at the girls, "What?"

"You, Casey, talking? What about?"

"Oh, we were just agreeing not to get on each other's cases this summer."

"Cool. So you're getting along with her?"

"Only for the summer." Derek smirked, "As soon as we get back home, it's back to normal."

"Whatever you say." Sam muttered, grinning.

Derek looked down at the ground, as much as he didn't want it to be, he knew that his statement would probably prove true when he and Casey were back in the same house.

--

"So, who was that guy you were talking with when we were coming back from the auditorium?" Ellie asked as she unpacked her stuff, and made her bed.

Casey looked over at her, their beds were right next to each other, "Oh, his name's Derek." She was debating on whether or not she should keep this whole new 'just met' charade up to everyone.

"He's cute." Ellie observed, with a tilt of her head.

Casey grinned, and before she caught herself, "Yeah, he is." She could hardly believe she just said that! She was most definitely not telling her that he was her step-brother now.

"So, he just started talking to you?" Ellie plopped down onto her bed.

Casey finished unpacking and began to make her own bed, "Yeah, he introduced himself, and after I introduced myself we just started talking. He's here for the music camp, and he's the lead singer and lead guitarist for his band.

"He's in a band?"

"Yeah."

"Cool!" Ellie gushed, a cheesy smile on her face.

"Hey, I think I met Derek." One of their other roommates said. Casey and Ellie turned to face her and saw a brunette with dark eyes sitting on her bed, which was across the room from Casey's, "Brown, shaggy hair, brown eyes?"

"That would be him." Casey nodded.

"Yeah, he and his friend Sam introduced themselves before we got on the bus. Derek's alright looking, but I think his friend's more attractive."

Casey smiled, "That's cool. You'll have to introduce us to him later. By the way, I'm Casey."

"Lisa." Lisa waved lazily, and the continued to unpack.

"Oh. My. God. Please tell me this is not the only available bed!" Casey hadn't even known her for a whole day, but already she got annoyed just by hearing Bianca's voice.

The tall blonde huffed in, setting her bags down in the bed beside Lisa's. Ellie rolled her eyes and made a face to Casey. Casey giggled and fluffed her pillow, turning her back in Bianca.

--

Derek and Sam trudged into the first cabin they saw. There was already a tall boy with dark hair that fell onto his forehead unpacking his stuff when they entered. They took the two beds that were side-by-side by the door, and left the other boy with an empty bed beside him. He hadn't even noticed that they were in there yet

"This cabin's closest, so I'm staying in it, even if I have to kick someone out!" Aaron strode in, confidently. He looked over and saw Sam and Derek, "Hey!" he called and went over to the only available bed left in the cabin, the one beside the dark-haired boy, "Looks like you can all keep your beds." He laughed.

The boy finally turned to greet his roommates, "Hey everyone." He turned to Aaron and stuck out his hand, "I'm Greg."

"Aaron." Aaron said simply, shaking his hand.

"Derek." Greg shook his hand.

"Sam." And his.

"What camp are you guys here for?"

The three musicians looked at each other, about to laugh, and at the same time said, "Music" as if it were a no-brainer.

"Oh, that's cool."

"And you?" Sam asked.

Greg shrugged, "Dance."

Derek held back a laugh, "Dance?"

"Yeah," Greg rolled his eyes, "My mom stuck me in every dance class she could when I was younger. As I got older, it was a hard habit to break. But it's not what you think. I don't wear tights and do those freaky little girlie leaps. I'm a hip-hop dancer."

The three nodded, "So, you've never danced ballet?" Aaron looked amused.

"When I was like five. My mom that it would be 'so cute'. I hated every minute of it." Greg shrugged again, "Well, I'm done packing, I'm gonna go see how my girlfriend's doing."

And with that, he left. Aaron burst out into laughter as soon as he was out the door, "Man, I thought that dude looked cool, too."

Derek rolled his eyes, "Just because he's a dancer does not make him un-cool."

Aaron raised his eyebrows, doubtfully.

"Hey, Derek did some dancing once."

Derek turned to Sam, a warning look on his face.

"Really? How interesting. Do tell."

"He was talked into joining a musical."

Aaron's laughter was hysterical, "Seriously?"

Derek groaned, "My teacher said either that or this whole stupid report thing. I thought it would be the easy way out."

"What was the musical?"

Derek muttered something inaudible.

"Sorry, what?"

"It was called 'Yo Ho Hip Hop', okay, it was a one time thing! Drop it!"

Aaron nodded, "Alright, alright." He chuckled.

"So, either of you got a girl you wanna go see?"

Derek shrugged and threw his bags onto his bed.

Sam smiled, "Well…"

"Lisa, right?"

Sam shrugged, grinning.

"Well, it just so happens I'm walking over there myself. I saw a pretty blonde that I think might just be a dancer." He waggled his eyebrows, "Let's go."

The two of them went to the door, and Sam turned to face Derek, "You coming, D?"

Derek thought about it, "Yeah, why not?" He hurried over to them and the three guys made their way to the girls' cabins.

--

"Knock, knock." Greg's singsong voice rang throughout the cabin. Casey, Ellie and Bianca all turned to see him standing in the open doorway.

"Greg!" Bianca cried and hurried to engulf him in her arms.

Casey and Ellie rolled their eyes and turned back to their beds. Lisa was looking out the window that was beside her bed, and then called out to Casey.

"Hey, you know how you wanted me to introduce you to Sam?"

Casey nodded, "Yeah, why?"

"Well, he Derek, and my friend Aaron are on their way over here." Lisa said, turning away from the window.

"Derek, Aaron, and Sam?" Greg asked; all four girls turned to him, curious, "Those are the names of my roommates.

"Cool," Casey said, and hurried over to the window with Lisa to see the boys. There was Derek, standing in between two dirty-blonde haired boys. She smiled, pretending not to know Sam would be weird, but she hoped Derek filled him in on the whole, not knowing each other thing, because if not, it would be an awkward introduction. She tried to ignore the weird feeling she got in the pit of her stomach at seeing Derek, trying to make herself believe that she was just nervous that he would still try and make her life miserable.

Aaron poked his head in, "I'm looking for my friend, Lisa…" he turned his head and saw her, "And I think I found her, lucky me, I picked the right one first." He grinned and he, Sam, and Derek all came in.

Lisa flashed them all a smile and walked over to them. She turned to Ellie and Casey, "This is Aaron, he and I have been friends since middle school. This is Sam, and this is Derek, but of course, Casey already knows him." She winked at her when Derek couldn't see.

Derek raised his eyebrows, and Casey cleared her throat, "Yeah, because we just met at the auditorium…" she said, trying to make him see that they were keeping up the charade.

He nodded, "Right."

Sam looked confused, "But I know Cas—" Derek nudged him with his elbow and he shut up. Sam looked over at Derek, still confused, but Derek was looking at Casey.

Aaron looked over at Greg and Bianca, and rolled his eyes, he turned to Sam and muttered, "That was the pretty blonde I saw earlier, figures." Sam laughed.

Lisa finished the rest of the introductions, "These are my roommates, Casey and Ellie. And that one over there is, Bianca. And you know her boyfriend, your roommate." She grinned.

Aaron, Derek, and Sam all nodded toward the three girls. Ellie cleared her throat, "Why don't we all sit together in the auditorium?" she suggested.

"More like be squished together." Sam joked. Everyone else laughed, "Sure why not?"

"Sounds good to me," Lisa agreed.

"Alright." Derek said, and Aaron shrugged.

"Casey? You want to?" Ellie asked.

Casey nodded, "Sounds cool." she agreed.

"Greg, Bianca, the offer's good for you two as well." Ellie said, politely.

"Ah, no thanks, my friends are expecting Greg and me." Bianca said, rudely.

Ellie sighed, "Alright, then. Let's head up there, shall we?" she asked.

The rest of them nodded and the six of them left the cabin, leaving Greg and Bianca by themselves. Casey stayed to the back of the group, and while Sam was deep into a conversation with Lisa, Derek slowed so he was beside her.

He bumped into her shoulder casually, "So, I guess the whole just meeting thing is for everybody else, too?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, smiling coyly.

Derek grinned, "Okay. So, if I've never met you before, then could I—"

"Yo, Derek!" Aaron called from beside Lisa, He motioned with his hand for Derek to join him. Derek sighed, looked back down at Casey, who was still waiting for him to finish his thought, and then ran up to talk to Aaron.

Casey sighed, and Ellie backed up so that she was in step with her, "What was that all about?"

Casey sighed once more, and looked at the back of Derek's head, "Honestly, I have no clue."


	7. Chapter 6: 'Where's Tonya'

**A/N: So this one is a bit shorter than the previous one, but it's what you all have been looking forward to. I only hope the scenes like that can get better. And go ahead, make assumptions, make guesses, get suspicious. :D Let me know what you think!**

**R&R, please!**

**-Jaclyn :)**

**Chapter Six: Where's Tonya?**

Two days into the camp, all the classes were going smoothly. Casey had gone through two jazz classes, a ballet class, and three different hip-hop classes. Derek had gone to a rhythm class, two guitar classes and even a voice class. The third day at camp found Casey sitting at lunch with Ellie, happily chatting about their last lyrical dance class. Casey had not seen Derek, Sam, Aaron, or Lisa all day. She and Ellie had bumped into Greg after breakfast, only to be yelled at by Bianca.

As Casey instinctively searched the cafeteria for familiar faces, she saw a small girl of about thirteen who she and Ellie had met in their lyrical class. She looked worried and seemed as if she was searching for someone. Casey didn't think too much of it. The girl had probably just lost track of a friend, and was trying to find them in the midst of the crowded cafeteria. As Casey scanned the rest of the crowd, she spotted Sam and Lisa sitting at a table, laughing. Across from them, Casey could only see the back of his head, but she knew that it was Derek. Sam and Lisa didn't even seem to notice him.

"Casey? Earth to Casey?" Ellie called, happily, waving a hand in front of her friend's eyes.

"Sorry, I was just looking at all the people here. There are a lot of them." She laughed, tore her eyes away from the back of Derek's head, and turned back to face Ellie.

"Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen this many kids at one camp." Ellie agreed.

"Yeah. When does that tap class start, do you know?"

"Tap class?"

"Yeah, isn't that next?" Casey asked, taking a sip of her drink.

"If you signed up for it. I have a salsa class next." Ellie said, shrugging, "I guess we'll meet up afterwards, 'kay?"

"Sounds good." Casey finished up her drink and took her tray away from the table and over to the trash can. She then made her way out of the doors.

"Casey! Wait up!" it was the first time she had heard him calling her and didn't want to cringe in a while.

"Hey, Derek," she said as he casually stopped running and went into step with her.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, I have a tap class in a few minutes. I need to go grab my shoes."

"Oh, cool."

"What do you have?"

"Nothing. It's a free period for me. Sam's got this bass guitar thing, and I haven't seen Aaron all day."

"So what are you gonna do with your free time?"

"Might go swimming in the lake."

"The lake?"

"Yeah, there's a lake by the boys' cabin. Thought I'd take a dip in it."

"You sure it's swimmable?"

"Yeah, quit worrying, Mom."

Casey made a face, "You did not just call me your mother."

Derek laughed, "Kidding. I'll see ya around." He began walking backward toward the boys' cabins.

She waved, "Hey, wanna sit with me and Ellie at dinner tonight?" she asked, half regretting asking, and half wanting him to say yes.

There was an odd look on his face for a moment before he grinned, "Sure. See you then."

"Yeah." She hid a small smile, and then hurried away to her own cabin to grab her tap shoes.

--

Casey's feet had never hurt so much. She had never done so much tapping in her life. As she gently pulled the shoes off her feet, she grimaced as she noticed at least four blisters forming. That's what she got for taking a tap class when she hadn't properly tapped in two years. She threw the shoes down at the foot of her bed and slipped on some flip-flops. She changed shirts, because the last one had gotten sweaty; the air conditioner in the tap room had broken. She left the cabin and decided to head up to the auditorium, because every night before dinner they all met in the auditorium to hear whatever announcements the instructors had that night.

She and Ellie, whenever they got separated, would meet right outside the auditorium so they could sit together. It was cool having met such a good friend before the camp had even started. As she hurried to the large building, ignoring the dirt slipping into her shoes under her feet, she spotted the bushy-haired girl talking to Lisa at their meeting spot. She ran up to them, and put her hand on Ellie's shoulder as she took off each sandal one at a time to get the dirt off of them. Ellie and Lisa laughed.

"Hey, guys," she said, slipping her shoes back on her foot.

"Hey, Casey." Ellie said, smiling brightly, as usual.

"Hey." Lisa said. She glanced at Ellie, looking uncomfortable for a brief second, before smiling, "Let's go in, maybe we won't get squished this time."

"Fat chance." Casey laughed and followed the two girls into the auditorium.

As everyone else filed in and squished themselves into seats, the man with jet black hair, the camp had come to know as Richard, came up to the stage. Everyone affectionately called him Ricky, even the ones who had never seen him before. Usually he was full of happiness and was bouncing on the balls of his feet. Today, though, he had his hands in his pockets, and he was walking slowly, and for those close enough to see his face, they could see the wrinkles of worry line his face.

He took the microphone out of its stand and held it near his mouth, "Everyone, something has been brought to my attention. It appears that a girl has gone missing. Her friend tells me that her name is Tonya. She just turned thirteen, and, so, I'm told, she is very shy. She has long blonde hair, and green eyes. Her friends are very worried, and if _anyone_ sees any sign of her, please let either me or one of your instructors know. We have contacted the police, but they can not do anything unless she had been missing for twenty-four hours."

There worried murmurs going throughout the crowd, and Ellie and Casey exchanged horrified looks.

"Tonight, I, and a couple other people will be searching the surrounding woods. You all are to be in your cabins by ten 'o' clock. I want _none_ of you sneaking out to try and help find her. We cannot risk another camper going missing."

Casey suddenly remembered seeing the girl from her lyrical class earlier that afternoon at lunch. She _had_ been looking for someone. That must have been Tonya's friend Ricky mentioned.

"Now, I want you all to go to dinner, and _no wandering about_! Wherever you go, take a friend. Always go in pairs, and if you can, groups of three or more. I want you all to be safe, and I don't want to take any chances until we find Tonya and find out why she went missing."

Everyone nodded and slowly made their way out of the auditorium. As the crowd was walking to the cafeteria, Casey told Ellie and Lisa about seeing Tonya's friend at lunch earlier. They were both shocked that she had been missing that long.

"Probably even longer, her friend most likely just realized that she was missing." Casey said.

"And she's so young. She's probably scared out of her mind, if she's lost." Ellie was genuinely concerned.

"The way Ricky went on about it, you'd think she was kidnapped." Lisa observed.

"But how could she get kidnapped in the camp? Wouldn't someone see her?" Ellie asked.

"Well, maybe, if it was someone in the camp, it wouldn't look suspicious until it was too late. Maybe it was one of her teachers and it looked like he was just talking to her and they walked off, and then he kidnapped her. Or even an older camper." Lisa listed the possibilities.

"Stop! That's just too horrible to think that it's someone here!" Ellie now looked distressed.

Casey put a hand on Ellie's shoulder, "It'll be fine. Ricky and the others will find her tonight, and she'll be back, saying she just got lost in the woods. It'll all be fine." She repeated, not just for Ellie's sake but to calm her own nerves.

As they entered the cafeteria, Derek and Sam hurried up to them. Derek looked a little worried as well, but he still smiled when he saw them.

"Hey, Casey, Ellie, Lisa." He said, nodding to each one of the girls.

"I asked Derek to sit with us, if that's alright." Casey said, looking to Lisa and Ellie.

Ellie grinned, despite her worry, "That's fine."

"Hey, girls." Sam said, "Hey Lisa." He added, making her grin.

"Hey. You haven't happened to see Aaron at all have you? I haven't seen him all day, and I'm starting to get worried, after hearing what happened to that little girl…"

"Nope, but he's probably here somewhere. There are a lot of people; it's easy to miss someone in the midst of it." Sam reassured her.

Lisa nodded, but still looked a little unsure.

"Come on," Casey said, "Let's go get dinner, and sit down, maybe he'll see us, and come join us."

--

Thirteen-year old Tonya shook with fear in the darkness. There was something tied around her eyes, preventing her from seeing her whereabouts. There wasn't a gag in her mouth, but she couldn't scream, her little voice wasn't working properly due to the amount of fear she was feeling. Her wrists and ankles were tied with rough material, and she knew she had lost circulation in at least one hand, if not both.

Earlier she had heard breathing around her, but now it was silent. Too silent, it scared her. At least when she heard the breathing she knew she wasn't alone; but now, she was all alone in an unknown place, tied up and blindfolded.

The last thing she remembered before waking up in this predicament was talking to someone. He was very tall, and older than she was. He had dirty blonde hair, and blue eyes that made her feel safe. He had complimented her. Said her hair was pretty and her eyes were beautiful. He said that he was sure that she was a great dancer. She had blushed, smiled, and even giggled. She had turned her head for one second, because she had thought she heard someone call her name, and then all was black.

The next thing she knew she was blindfolded, tied up, and she heard someone moving and breathing beside her. Her mind had first gone to the tall boy who had complimented her, but she knew that he had been too nice to do that. Someone else must have come up from behind her. She wondered if the tall boy had fought for her. Or if he was in danger too. Her heart went out to him, wondering if he was safe or not.

The breathing was back with the sound of a door opening and closing. Her own breath quickened, and she felt her heart beat grow faster and faster. There were footsteps, and they were getting closer and closer. When she felt a pair of hands on her, her ability to breathe left her.

The hands were large, and strong, but they felt strangely comforting on her shoulders. She slowly began to breathe again, and she felt the breath of the person holding her shoulders.

"It'll be okay. It'll all be okay." The voice whispered, and she recognized it as the tall boy's voice.

Her voice had come back to her, "Aaron?" she whispered softly; he had come to rescue her!

"Yeah, it's me." His voice was hoarse, but it was still a comforting sound.

She sighed, and tried moving her hands, getting the circulation going again. She felt his breath again as he chuckled softly. His hands left her shoulders, and she immediately felt their warmth on her own cold hands. He stroked them with his thumbs, tenderly, trying to warm them.

"Are you okay?" he whispered softly, his mouth right by her ear.

"I am now." she had a small smile on her face, but her voice was still a bit shaky.

She felt his fingers fumble with the material tied around her wrists, and she felt all the blood come rushing back to her hands as it fell away. She moved her hands joyfully, and then tried to reach out and touch Aaron, as if to make sure he was really there. Her hands found his chest, and she made her way up to his neck. She then leaned in, wrapped her arms around him neck, and hug him. He let out a sigh, and his strong arms enveloped her. She slowly pulled away, and he untied her ankles. He then untied the blindfold from around her eyes, and she still could only see shadows. It was very dark, wherever they were. She could see the figure of Aaron in front of her, and she smiled.

He helped her to stand. Her legs were a little wobbly, from lack of use, but he helped her to steady herself. She gripped his hands in hers as she finally caught her balance. He slowly let go of her hands, and she saw his figure back away from her.

"What's going on, Aaron? Where are we?" She still whispered, because she feared if she spoke any louder than that something bad would happen.

"Tonya?" his voice sounded scared, as if he couldn't see her, or if he could see her, there was something scary about her.

She scrunched up her eyebrows, wondering what he was scared of. But then, she felt something stab the back of her shoulder. She let out a small gasp, but then, all was black once more.

--

Casey looked up from her food as the cafeteria doors banged open. Aaron hurried in, searching the crowd.

"Aaron!" Lisa cried; relief was clear in her voice.

He heard her cry, and hurried over to her. He sat down beside her; he looked scared out of his mind. Lisa noticed this and put a hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" she asked, gently.

"I just ran into Ricky. He had a group of adults with him. They said they were going to find a little girl who had gone missing from the camp."

"Yeah, he told us all about it during the announcements." Lisa explained; her voice was still gentle, as if speaking to a small child.

He shook his head, "Who would kidnap a little girl?"

"Well, she could have just gotten lost." Lisa reassured him, rubbing his back softly, trying to calm him down. Aaron shook his head and opened his mouth.

"WHERE'S TONYA!" the voice that screamed out sounded young, and it didn't sound like it was used to yell that often.

Casey, Lisa, Aaron, Ellie, Sam, and Derek all turned to face a little thirteen year old girl. Casey recognized her as Tonya's friend she had seen at lunch.

"Excuse me?" Lisa asked, still clutching Aaron's back. Aaron looked terrified, his skin, pale.

The girl marched up to Aaron, "Where is she? Where is Tonya?" she demanded.

"Back off, he doesn't even know Tonya. He knows just as much as you know about her disappearance." Lisa sounded rude, but she was just trying to protect Aaron.

Casey and Derek watched in silence as Aaron's face grew even paler, if that was possible.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" he choked out.

The girl rolled her eyes impatiently, "The last time I saw her, she was talking to you! Now, where is she?!"

"I've never met her. I don't know what you're talking about!" Aaron said, a bit more firmly now, the color coming back to his face.

The girl stomped her foot in anger, "I know you know what happened to her! You were the last person she talked to before she went missing!"

Aaron stood up, and he towered over the girl, "I don't know what you're talking about." He repeated for the third time, and this time he sounded very firm, almost scary.

The girl let out an aggravated scream and marched away and into the restroom. He sat back down and stared down at the table, deep in thought. Lisa gently put her hand back on his shoulder.

"What was that all about?" she asked, her voice small, and tender.

His head shot up and he narrowed his eyes, "You think I know?!" he said loudly.

Lisa's eyes widened, "No, no, I was just wondering if you knew why it was she thought you were the one who was talking to her friend."

"Well, I don't! She must be mistaking me for someone else!" he said, and then stood up quickly.

"Aaron?" Lisa looked hurt.

He ignored her and left the cafeteria without a glance back at her. She watched him leave, her eyes full of tears. Sam wrapped an arm around her shoulder, and she sighed, letting her head rest on his shoulder.

--

As everyone was walking back to the cabins, a girls' scream rang out. Derek and Casey, who were walking behind Ellie, Sam, and Lisa, hurried to where the crowd was gathering. Derek took Casey's hand in his so they wouldn't get separated as they pushed their way to the front of the crowd. As soon as they reached the front, Casey gasped, and Derek pulled her close to him, to shield her eyes. She wrapped her arms around him and dug her face into his shoulder, on the verge of tears at the sight.

For there, right in front of the crowd, was Tonya's friend, looking terrified, and tears were falling down her face, as she looked down at something.

Down on the ground was the body of Tonya, face down, a bloody hole in the back of her shoulder. She wasn't breathing.

Everyone around knew that she was dead.


	8. Chapter 7: Another One Bites the Dust

**A/N: OH MY GOSH!!!! I know that I do not deserve to have any readers left after making you wait for a year and a half, but you have no idea the craziness that was my life this past year or so! But, I've caught the passion for this story again, and I hope to keep writing it, so if I have any readers left, and I know I don't deserve any, here's the next chapter in Camp Death!**

**-Jaclyn :)**

**Chapter Seven: Another One Bites the Dust**

Casey couldn't find Ellie. She had disappeared after the appearance of the dead little girl, and Casey was worried. Derek wouldn't let Casey out of his sight, for fear something would happen to her like it did to Tonya, so Casey asked Lisa if she could go look for Ellie. It was three hours until curfew, but everyone was supposed to stay in the auditorium until the administration figured everything out. Lisa nodded, and she took Sam's hand and snuck out the side door.

Casey watched them, fearful that she might not ever see them again. Derek nudged her softly with his elbow, "It'll be okay. I bet Ellie just went back to her cabin for something. They'll find her and the three of them will be back soon. Don't worry, Case." He smiled at her, and she tried to smile back, but failed.

She watched as the door shut behind the two, and saw Aaron out of the corner of his eye. He was watching Sam and Lisa, too. He quickly looked around him, and then hopped up and ran out the door behind them. Casey's brow furrowed, "Derek, Aaron just left to follow Sam and Lisa."

Derek turned his head to see the door closing again, "You really need to stop worrying. I'm sure he just went to help. And Lisa is a good friend of his, I'm sure he's just going out there to make sure nothing happens to her. Everything is going to be _fine_, Casey!"

An hour passed by and everyone was still packed into the auditorium, and Sam, Lisa, and Aaron had not returned. Casey was getting even more worried; where was Ellie that it was taking this long for anyone to find her. She looked around and spotted Greg and Bianca two rows ahead of her and excused herself from Derek for a minute.

"Greg!" Casey called kneeling down beside his seat, ignoring Bianca's glares.

"Hey, Casey, right?" she nodded, and he smiled at her, "What's up?"

She took a deep breath, "Did you happen to see Ellie before we were all shepherded into here? She's not in here and I'm really starting to get worried."

Greg's eyes widened, "No, I have no idea where she is. I haven't seen her all day."

Bianca cleared her throat and her glare intensified, "I bet Ellie was the one who killed that little girl and now she's on the run for murder!"

Casey gasped, "That's an awful thing to say Bianca! And besides, Ellie was with me all day yesterday, just about…"

Greg gave Bianca a stern look, "This is very serious, B! A little girl is dead! And you're using your petty jealousy to place incorrect blame on someone else? That is low."

Bianca huffed and folded her arms over her chest, staring straight ahead. Greg placed a hand on Casey's shoulder, "I'm sorry about Bianca. And I'm sorry Ellie's missing, but I have no idea where she is."

Casey nodded, "Thanks anyway, Greg." She stood up and hurried back to Derek, "We're leaving. We need to help the others find Ellie. I'm worried about all of them; they've all been gone way too long."

Derek didn't like the idea of bringing Casey outside where anything could happen, but he agreed; he was worried about them too, "Let's go." He took her hand and snuck her out the side door.

They were about five yards away from the auditorium when they heard a blood-curdling scream. Derek's face paled, "That… sounded like Sam." Casey gasped and they both took off running towards the sound.

They came to a halt in front of the boys' cabins. Sam was standing on the edge of the small lake Derek had mentioned before. Derek and Casey let out a sigh of relief when they saw Sam, seemingly unharmed. They ran over to him, out of breath, and still worried.

"Sam? What's wrong?" Derek looked at his best friend's face and his eyes widened; Sam looked as pale as a ghost, and looked as terrified as if he had actually _seen _one.

With a shaky hand, Sam pointed out to the middle of the lake. Derek cursed under his breath and Casey screamed as they saw a girl with long, dark brown hair, face down in the middle of the lake.

Lisa was dead.


	9. Chapter 8: 'Hanging Out' with Bianca

**A/N: I guess I'm making up for lost time by putting two chapters out in a row. I might even put another one up later tonight! I just got reinspired and I want to get all my ideas out before I lose them! Please read, and let me know what you think!**

**-Jaclyn :)**

**Chapter Eight: 'Hanging out' with Bianca**

The entire camp was in chaos. Campers were going crazy trying to get cell service to call home and get a ride back to where they wanted to be. The administration was going crazy trying to find the murderer of the two girls. The police came and went and came again searching for evidence and trying to interview some of the hysterical campers. Casey and Derek were huddled in Derek's bed, watching Sam lying in his staring at the ceiling. Casey was laying down, curled up under Derek's blanket, as he rubbed her back, staring at Sam with wide eyes, filled with a sadness for his best friend he could never fully comprehend.

Sam had been the first to be questioned by the police about Lisa. He told them that they were looking for their friend Ellie and had decided to split up. The next thing he knew, he heard Lisa screaming, and he hurried to where he heard her. He found her face down in the lake, but saw no one around, and even after circling the lake and running around trying to find someone, there was no clue as to who murdered Lisa.

When the police had pulled her body out of the lake, she had been stabbed severely three different times; one in her gut, one in her chest, and the third in her neck. She had been dead even before she had been thrown into the lake, with just enough life in her to float until the police dragged her out. Sam was devastated and depressed; he had never seen a dead person, and now he had seen two in a row, the second being a girl he really liked. Derek watched as he rolled over onto his stomach and buried his head into his pillow. Derek's heart broke as he watched his best friend's chest heave up and down as he cried into his pillow.

Casey slowly sat up and scooted closer to Derek. He was shocked at first, but then wrapped his arms around her and held her close. She rested her head on his shoulder and whispered in his ear, "We have to do something, Derek. Sam is a wreck. We have to find out who's behind this."

Derek looked at her wide-eyed, "I agree. Let's go see if we can find Aaron, I'm sure after he finds out about Lisa he'll want this jerk caught even more than we do."

"Let's find Ellie, too, I bet she's scared." Casey stood up and Derek followed. They quietly said good-bye to Sam, and hurried out of the cabin.

As they walked around the camp, they were trampled by many crazed campers. There were people everywhere, shouting others' names, trying to get service on their cell phones, or running around scared. Derek held on tight to Casey's hand so they didn't get separated, and she called Elli and Aaron's names, scanning the crowds for their faces.

She and Derek almost ran into Greg as he ran through the crowd, looking around frantically. "Greg?" Casey asked; her eyes wide, "What's wrong?"

Greg looked at her, but his eyes were unfocused, "I can't find Bianca. She was with me this morning at breakfast and after everything with that girl in the lake last night and the little girl that was stabbed… I gotta find her. I can't find Bianca!" and with that he ran off, looking all around.

Casey looked after him, worried, "Something's going on, Derek. We _need_ to find Ellie and Aaron. Where have they been all night?"

Derek put his hands on her shoulders, "Take a deep breath, Casey, we'll find them."

Just then, Ellie came running up to Casey and Derek, "Casey! Thank God I found you! Come quick!" her face was white, and she was out of breath. She pulled on Casey's hand, trying to drag her along with her.

"Hold on, Ellie. Where have you been? What's going on?"

Ellie looked on the verge of tears, "I'll explain everything later, Casey, but you have to come see this _now_! I don't know what to do!"

Derek took Casey's other hand, "Okay, Ellie, show us what's wrong."

Ellie took off running, dragging Casey, and Derek, along with her, "Where are we going Ellie?" Casey called as they ran.

Ellie didn't answer but stopped just shy of the building where salsa and ballroom dancing classes were taught. This was the building that had a large oak tree beside it. Ellie wordlessly pointed up at the top branch and looked to Derek and Casey, "I don't know what to do! I didn't know who else to go to!"

The two looked at Ellie with raised eyebrows, and then turned to look at where she was pointing. There was something hanging from the branch, and it was swaying slightly in the wind. Casey squinted to try and see what it was, but she couldn't tell from this distance.

Derek cleared his throat, "Ellie… what is that?"

Ellie let out a strangled cry and opened her mouth to answer, but a voice from behind them interrupted her.

"BIANCA!" Greg's tortured scream sent chills up and down Casey's spine. Greg pushed Derek and Ellie out of the way as he ran toward the tree.

Derek and Casey stared up at the object hanging from the tree with new eyes. It wasn't an 'it'. It was a 'she'. She was Bianca.

Bianca had been hanged.


	10. Chapter 9: Come out, Come out

**A/N: I tried to make this one longer, and I hope it makes you all happy! I really like writing this story, and I hope that I can continue writing it regularly!**

**-Jaclyn :)**

**Chapter Nine: Come out, Come out**

Sam and Greg were both mad. Furious, actually. Greg hadn't left the side of the giant oak tree for hours, even after the police came and removed Bianca from the branch. Sam lay on his bed, fuming, his thoughts suffocating him. Both boys wanted revenge, and they wanted it now. Greg punched the tree hard; he knew he and Bianca had not been getting along well, and he had even had thoughts about breaking up with her, but he had not wished this on her. He was furious with himself that he had let her out of his sight and this had happened to her. He held his hurt fist in his opposite hand and stalked off, glaring at the ground as he went in a random direction.

Sam sat up suddenly in his bed; Casey and Derek had not returned and neither had Aaron, so the cabin was empty. He quickly got up and ran out the door, not even bothering to close it behind him. Lisa's death would not be in vain; even if the police had no leads as to who killed her, he would find who killed her and get revenge. The camp was complete and utter chaos. There were policemen everywhere and the campers were all scattering about, anxiously trying to find their friends. Everyone had stopped trying to get service on their phones because it was pointless.

And when Ricky and the other administrators tried to use the landline, the line was dead. Whoever was behind all this had obviously cut the line; they wanted to trap them all there. This filled Sam with even more rage; they were all trapped there and soon there would be more people with fates like Lisa's, Tonya's, and Bianca's. It had to be stopped, and Sam was going to stop it.

But not if Greg stopped it first.

Derek, Casey, and Ellie were sitting at an empty table in the cafeteria. They were trying to eat their lunch, but they just couldn't. Not after they had seen Bianca's dead body lowered from that tree. It was so gruesome. Casey felt sick to her stomach, and soon pushed her food away and laid her head down on the table. Derek rubbed her back as he stared absentmindedly down at his grilled cheese. Ellie reached over and patted Casey's head.

"Don't worry, Casey. Everything's gonna be fine." Ellie smiled down at her, and when Casey looked up at her, she was a little taken aback by how happy Ellie actually looked.

She furrowed her eyebrows at her new friend, who shrugged and ate her potato salad. Derek shot Casey a look, and she motioned to the door with her head. Derek nodded and stood.

"Hey, Ellie, Derek and I are gonna go for a bit, but we'll be at his cabin if you need us, okay?" Casey said, walking out with Derek holding her arm. Ellie smiled and waved after them.

As soon as they were outside, Casey went off, "What is wrong with her? Three girls are dead, and she's _smiling_? I think there might be something wrong with her."

"Well, didn't you say that Bianca hated Ellie?"

Casey nodded, "But I don't think she'd be _happy_ that Bianca's dead. It just doesn't make sense."

Derek was quiet for a minute, "Hey, you told me that last night Bianca accused Ellie of being the murderer. The next morning she's hanging in a makeshift gallows in a tree. Coincidence?"

"Derek! I don't think Ellie's the murderer! She's too nice. Besides, she was with me when Tonya's body showed up."

"But she was missing when Lisa's body showed up."

"But she was the one who brought us to Bianca's body. Why would she do that if she was the one who murdered her?"

Derek shrugged, "Proud of her handiwork? I don't know, Case. This is all new to me! I'm worried about Sam, though, maybe we should go check on him again."

Casey nodded and let Derek lead her back to his cabin. When they got there it was entirely empty, and the door was left open. Derek's face paled, "Oh no. Sam."

Casey's eyes widened, "You don't think…"

"I need to go look for him… I need to make sure he's alright!"

"Okay, I'll wait here for Ellie. We told her we'd be here; she and I will find you when she gets here."

Derek shook his head fiercely, "Nuh-uh! There's no way I'm leaving you here all alone. I don't want anything to happen to you!"

Casey was touched, but she feared for her friend, "But Ellie—"

"Will be fine; we need to find Sam." He took her hand and led her out, shutting the door behind him.

Sam was 95% sure he was lost. The other 5% percent of him was sure that he was about to solve the mystery of the camp murderer. He had gone into the woods; he had heard Tonya's friend telling the police that Tonya had been near the edge of the woods when she disappeared. Sam figured this was a good place to start, even if the police had already checked it out. He knew that sometimes the police could be incompetent.

What he hadn't counted on, however, was how thick the canopy of leaves was. It was as dark as night in the heart of the forest, and he had been stumbling along in the dark for too long. About fifteen minutes earlier, he had heard noises, like two people arguing, but he couldn't make it out, and instead of walking toward the noise, he had walked away from it, and no matter how many times he turned around he couldn't hear the noise again.

He didn't even have a plan if he actually did find the murderer; all he knew was that he wanted them to pay. Too many girls had been slain; and they were innocent. He knew that something needed to be done, and he knew that he was angry enough that when the time came, he would do it.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," he muttered under his breath, heading deeper into the woods.

It was not long after that he began to hear footsteps behind him. His heart raced and he sped up, and the footsteps copied. He turned to face whoever was following him and found himself staring at a dark figure just slightly taller than him.

"Ready or not, here I come." The figure whispered in a hoarse voice, and suddenly Sam was on his back, his nose bleeding.

Sam hurriedly stood up, "What the hell, man?" he yelled, winding up to punch the figure back.

The figure landed one punch to the side of Sam's head, and down he went, colliding with a tree root when he hit the ground.

"Why'd you have to be a hero, Sam?" the figure said, sounding remorseful.

Greg had no idea where he was going, but going he was. He was determined to catch the killer and make him pay for what he had done to Bianca and the others. He had searched everywhere, looking at everyone he saw, searching for guilt or remorse, or even just a suspicious face. He was exhausted from his searching, but his determination was resolute. He would not rest until the murder of Bianca was caught and justice had caught up to them.

He heard a commotion behind him from the center of the camp, but there were so many people hustling and bustling around that it was probably just two people colliding into one another and starting a domino effect, so he ignored it. He ran to the cafeteria, the only place he hadn't yet checked. He found nothing but a tray left on an empty table with a half-eaten bowl of potato salad on it.

He ran right back out and watched as the crowd in the center of the camp grew bigger.

"Derek." Casey breathed, squeezing hand and pointing to the large crowd in front of them.

"No…" Derek's voice was barely louder than a whisper.

"I'm sure it's not…" she was about to say Sam, but she couldn't bring herself to say his name.

Derek didn't wait for her to finish; he took off running, her hand still in his so she was dragged along behind. Once they were at the crowd, Derek pushed his way to the front, and Casey trailed behind apologizing to those who came in contact with Derek's elbows. Once they were in the heart of the crowd, Casey still behind him, Derek's knees gave way and he fell to the ground. This gave Casey a clear view of what was in the center.

Lying on the ground was someone who had been beaten to a pulp. His face was almost unrecognizable, but Casey, unfortunately recognized him at once. She heard a heart-wrenching sob come from Derek, and she knelt down and wrapped her arms around him. He fell into her arms and cried against her shoulder, as she stared over his at the body of his best friend, her ex-boyfriend.

Sam had gone searching for the murderer, but had become yet another victim.


	11. Chapter 10: They All Fall Down

**A/N: Enjoy!**

**-Jaclyn :)**

**Chapter Ten: They All Fall Down**

Things were getting out of control. The police were at a loss, and had no idea who was behind all the murders. No one could get in contact with the world outside the camp because all the phones were not working. The policemen's cars were all out of commission due to a sudden disappearance of all their car batteries. Their radios to the station weren't working either, but why that was happening was a mystery to everyone. And, worst of all, the murderer continued to haunt the camp. Even some of the administrators were joining the list of the fallen.

The police were working 24/7 to catch the culprit, but they were having no luck. Whoever was doing this was doing it _well_. Soon, some of the policemen were caught in the crosshairs. The students were scared and confused. Several tried to run away; those few were never seen again. But no one could tell if it was because they had been murdered on their way out, or if they had actually escaped.

Four days after Sam's death, Derek and Casey were one of the few remaining campers alive, along with Ellie, Aaron, and Greg. Only Ricky and the chief of police remained of the adults. The twelve survivors locked themselves up in the cafeteria, afraid that if they split up the murderer would catch them and kill them instantly. Ricky and the chief were on constant lookout, they didn't let any camper leave the building, and they never once opened the door or the windows. Everyone was terrified, and in the close quarters, things between the campers were getting tedious. Petty arguments broke out and people accused each other of being the murderer.

Derek and Casey were huddled in a corner, Casey's head against his chest, half asleep. Derek was stroking her hair subconsciously, staring around at the other ten campers with wary eyes. Any one of them could be the murderer, but they could also be innocent. The murderer could still be out there, free to roam about and kill again. This thought made Derek's blood boil. This was the psycho that had killed his best friend, and hundreds of others, all in six days. He wondered how the sick bastard was doing it.

Ellie and Aaron were in the corner across from Derek and Casey, their heads together, whispering fervently. Greg sat all alone at an empty table, staring blankly at nothing. The other seven were all boys under the age of thirteen. They were all from the music camp, and they huddled together, trying to lighten the mood by making up beats with kitchen utensils and the floor, but their rhythms were halted as they stopped to listen for any noises outside every minute or so.

Ricky and the policeman were discussing in undertones how they were going to get everyone out of the camp safely, but Derek could tell they were afraid to take even one step outside.

Suddenly, the power in the cafeteria went out, and everything went black. There was screaming everywhere. Casey clung tight to Derek, whimpering in fear as he held her close. They heard Ricky and the policeman yelling out orders to stay calm and don't move until they had reached the breakers, but their voices were cut off and replaced with screams of pain. Casey let out a scream of fear, and Derek heard Ellie's scream echo Casey's. It was obvious that Ricky and the policemen had fallen victim to the killer; but that meant that whoever it was, was in this room at this moment.

This made Derek stand up hurriedly, Casey whispering frantically in his ear not to. He slowly loosened her grip from his waist and took a step forward into the darkness. He tripped over something, and felt sick to his stomach when he tried to lift himself up off the floor and felt a warm fluid under his hands. It was blood, it had to blood. But whose was it?

To Derek it was Sam's blood; it was the blood of all the innocent people this maniac had killed. He let out a scream of rage and ran once more into the pitch darkness. Casey screamed in fear again, and reached her arms out to Derek, but couldn't see him.

"Where's Aaron?" Ellie cried, fear making her voice crack, "Aaron?" she called fearfully, "Aaron?"

Casey heard a loud thump, and her heart almost burst out her chest. Praying that the thump was not Derek's dead body, she began to crawl along the floor slowly, trying to find Derek. She slipped in the puddle of blood, and let out a whimper of fear again. She heard someone crying, was it Ellie? Desperately she tried to find someone in the darkness, her hands hitting the linoleum floor hard, making slapping noises that sounded too loud now that there was no more screaming.

There was no more screaming. Why was no one screaming? Did that mean that everyone else was dead?

"AARON!" Ellie cried her voice rough with fear.

Casey's shuddered at the pure fear in Ellie's voice and was about to switch her path to try and find Ellie instead of Derek, when the lights suddenly came back on.

At first, Casey's reaction was to close her eyes; she didn't want to see the aftermath of what had just happened. But, she quickly opened her eyes and looked all around her. Ellie was hiding in the same corner she had been in before the lights went out, and she looked small and frightened as she trembled. Casey noticed Greg standing up against the wall near the table he had been sitting at, but he appeared unharmed. With her heart in her throat, Casey saw all the small boys lying on top of each other. She noticed with a pang that the puddle of blood she had slipped in was from one of them.

She saw Ricky and the policeman's dead bodies propped against the windowsills and she felt sick to her stomach; she had never seen so much death. Her eyes sought out Derek, but she didn't see him at first. Then one of the doors to the kitchen burst open, and Derek and Aaron stumbled out, wrestling with each other.

"Aaron?!" Ellie cried, in joy and confusion. Casey couldn't find her voice, or she would have happily screamed Derek's name; she was so relieved that he was alive!

Greg hurried over to the two boys and broke their fight up, "What the hell is going on?" he roared, "Tell us, now!"

Aaron paled, but Derek glared at Greg, then at Aaron, "I heard a door close, and I followed the sound, and found this bastard back in the back room. I figured he was the killer because he was trying to escape."

Ellie let out a choked sob at Derek's accusation against Aaron; who knew when she had grown close to Aaron? Casey took a tentative step closer to the boys, wary.

Aaron glared back at Derek, "I thought _you_ were the murderer! I followed the sound too and found you!"

Their glares deepened as they stared at each other, but Greg shook both of them, "Don't you see? While you two were fighting with each other, the _real_ killer must have escaped!"

"But how did he even get in here?!" Ellie demanded, standing up and hurrying over to stand by the boys, "It's not safe in here anymore!"

Casey hurried over to stand next to Derek, taking his hand in hers and squeezing it tightly, "We need to leave; _now_, we have to escape and find help!"

"You're right!" Aaron agreed, "Let's go!"

Derek looked at Aaron with wary eyes, but nodded, "Now."

The five of them hurried out the door, keeping close together and looking all around them. They saw no one around, but it was nighttime and they could barely see ten yards ahead of them, let alone the whole camp.

"Which way do we go?" Casey asked breathlessly.

Greg pointed toward where everyone believed to be the parking lot was, "It'd be safer to go to the parking lot. We can find a road and follow it to get help."

Ellie shook her head, "That's where the killer will be expecting us to go! We have to go the opposite way."

"The opposite way is the woods, Ellie!" Derek said, holding tight to Casey's hand.

"Exactly! Even if the killer looks for us there, he won't be able to find us because it's too big, and it's dark out!" Ellie exclaimed, leading the group toward the woods.

Everyone agreed with her logic and ran after her, all anxious to be away from the camp.

Derek and Greg ran ahead, Casey trailing along behind Derek, his hand still in hers. Just as they were deep into the forest, she looked over her shoulder and realized that Ellie and Aaron were no longer with them.

"Ellie!" she cried, frightened, "Aaron!"

Derek looked back at her, "Case, c'mon, we have to keep moving! It's not safe!"

Casey shook her head and pulled her hand free, "They could be in danger! We have to go find them!"

And with that she took off running the opposite direction.

"Casey! NO! Casey!" Derek called, running after her, but he lost sight of her almost immediately.

She ran until she saw a break in the trees and stepped out into the moonlight. She could see Ellie right in front of her and she hurried over to her, hugging her tightly.

"Ellie, I'm so glad you're okay!" she pulled away to look Ellie in the eye, "Is Aaron okay?"

Ellie's eyes grew wide, "I'm… so… sorry, Casey." She said softly.

Casey's eyebrows furrowed, "What do you mean? What are you sorry about?"

Ellie's gaze was no longer on Casey. She was staring at something just over her shoulder. Her face grew hard and she moved her head slightly, almost like a nod.

Casey was about to turn her head to see what Ellie was looking at, but then she felt a sharp pain in her back. The pain was too much, she staggered, and fell forward, and the world turned black around her.


	12. Chapter 11: And That's the End

**A/N: And here it is, the finale that took almost two years to happen. I hope it was worth the intolerable wait, and that it makes all of the faithful readers who stuck with me happy!**

**Let me know what you think!**

**-Jaclyn :)**

**Chapter Eleven: And That's the End**

Derek knew something was gravely wrong, but he could do nothing about his suspicions for two reasons. One: he was lost, hopelessly and utterly lost. Two: he could find no one, not one soul, even though Greg had been with him just minutes ago. He ran through the dark trees, trying to find a light ahead that would show him the way out of the woods, but he was stuck in the never-ending darkness that surrounded him. His thoughts went to Casey; they had grown so close in the few days they'd been here, and his heart ached to think that she might be in grave danger at this very moment.

He forced his feet to move faster, for his lungs to grow stronger, but still he couldn't find the edge of the woods. He had the feeling as if he was running in circles and it frustrated him. He half-hoped Casey was just as lost as he was, that way she might have a prayer of staying safe away from the killer. Frustrated with himself for letting run away to danger, he ran harder and faster.

----

Casey heard voices, hushed, urgent-sounding voices. Struggling with a thick blanket of unconsciousness, she fought to open her eyes and look around. She tried to remember why she was laying on the ground, the dirt a mask on one side of her face, but nothing was coming to her.

Then she remembered Ellie; she remembered searching for her friend in panic, afraid that she would be the killer's next victim. She remembered finding Ellie, looking into her friend's wide eyes, then a sharp pain in her back, between the shoulder blades. For some reason, Ellie had apologized to Casey when she had been found. Casey still could not fathom the reason why Ellie had said sorry. Focusing her memory, Casey recalled Ellie's hard stare as she looked over Casey's shoulder. Had she nodded? Casey thought hard; yes she had! Had Ellie signaled for someone behind Casey to stab her?

Casey suppressed a groan of pain as she tried to move her shoulders; the pain was incredible, almost too much to take. She fought for her consciousness, and won, focusing all her energy into listening to the voices near her.

"…just kill him and be done with it?" A male's voice was speaking, hoarsely and under his breath; Casey couldn't recognize who it belonged to.

"Because, we need to pick our time carefully; if we act too rashly, everything we worked for will be for nothing!" Casey immediately recognized Ellie's voice, but she did not recognize the malice in it.

"We've already killed everyone else! I'm tired of this; I just want it all to be done! You've made me do terrible things and I'm tired of it! Do your own dirty work from now on! I don't want to kill anyone else!" the male's voice rose and octave and Casey heard movement.

"Don't you remember why you're helping me? Don't you remember that I am the only person who holds the information that will confirm whether you're guilty or innocent for your trial next month? Not only could I prove to the court that you're guilty of grand theft auto, attempted murder, and arson, but I can also prove that you are the sole person responsible for all the deaths here this week!" Casey was shocked and appalled at the things coming out of Ellie's mouth; this was a totally different person than the one she had thought was her friend.

"You know that all those are false charges! It wasn't me! It was my brother, but he had a record and he could've gone to federal prison! I had to take the hit for him!"

"Help me, and I can prove your innocence with my 'eye-witness account'." Ellie's voice was dark, and cruel.

"Fine, I'll kill the last one; but do you really think that after he finds out you were the reason you killed everyone else off he's going to want to be with you? I mean, God, Ellie, you killed the girl he obviously was in love with!"

Casey heard nothing more for a moment before Ellie spoke again, "I don't plan on telling him it was me who caused everyone's death. I plan on framing you and then he will want to rescue me from the 'murderer' and then he'll be in love with me, and everything will finally be right in the world." A short bark of cruel laughter came from the direction of Ellie's voice.

"You are one twisted girl. I can't believe I let you blackmail me into killing all those innocent people just because you wanted to get together with some _guy_! It's crazy! You made me kill some of my _friends_!"

"Oh, shut up Aaron!" _Aaron_?! Casey was frozen with shock; Aaron, Sam and Derek's roommate? Lisa's friend? He had been the one committing the murders? He had killed that poor defenseless little girl, Tonya, and point-blank denied it when her friend accused him of having something to do with her disappearance. How could he?

Ellie laughed again, "Besides, you only led those friends away from the crowds, I was the one who actually killed them. Like that little girl… what was her name… Tina?"

"Tonya." Aaron growled.

"Whatever. I couldn't believe how well you fooled her into thinking you actually cared about her! You gained her trust and then released her from her bounds just in time for me to sneak up and stab her in the back!" Another peal of laughter.

Casey couldn't move; not only was the pain in her back enough to keep her motionless, but she was near two people who were solely responsible for the deaths of every kid and every adult at this camp. She was outraged, but more than that, she was terrified. They had already attempted to kill her, but obviously they had failed; she was alive.

Somehow she had to make it back into the woods to warn Derek and Greg that Ellie and Aaron were the killers and… wait. Her thoughts rewound back to Aaron and Ellie's early conversation. They were only talking about killing _one more_ guy. The last guy was obviously Ellie's target of her psychotic affection. She was positive it was Greg; it couldn't possibly be Derek. Which meant that Derek was in danger of being the next victim; her heart pounded with fear at the thought.

Aaron made an irritated noise, "If you wanted us to kill them now, why do you lead them into the forest? How are we supposed to find them?"

Ellie made an impatient noise, "Just like Casey; they'll come out to see what's holding us up. They'll be afraid for our lives. That's when you'll kill our target!"

At that moment, a loud noise came from behind Casey; the sound of someone tripping over a root and running towards Ellie and Aaron.

"Ellie!" Greg's loud voice boomed across the empty darkness, "Aaron! Casey!"

"Greg? Greg! We're over here! Follow my voice!" Ellie's voice turned high-pitched and sweet as she spoke to Greg.

Casey heard Ellie whisper something to Aaron, and then Greg's footsteps as he stepped right next to Casey's head.

"Ellie? Aaron?" Greg's voice was shaky, "Where's Casey?"

Casey tried moving her head to look up, but the movement in her neck made her want to scream. She held back her scream and continued to play dead. Just then, she heard a sickening squelch and felt Greg's body collapse on top of hers. She couldn't help it; not only did Greg fall onto her own stab wound, but she had guessed horribly, horribly wrong. Greg wasn't Ellie's object of affection; Derek was!

"GREG!!!!" she screamed, out of fear and pain, "DEREK!!!!"

----

Derek's head snapped up as he heard Casey scream. He ran toward the sound, stumbling over roots and hitting branches. He pushed himself to run faster and farther than he had ever run before, because the sound of Casey's scream, filled with fear, terrified him. Finally, he found his way out of the woods and looked around until he saw the moonlight reflecting off the pale faces of Ellie and Aaron.

"Ellie! Aaron! Where's Casey?!" he yelled as he ran over to them. Just then, he noticed the two bodies laying at their feet, and he stopped abruptly, ten feet away, "Casey?" he whispered, afraid to even think about what it could mean if her body was one of the two over there.

"Derek!" Ellie called joyfully, as if there were not two motionless bodies lying right in front of her, "Come over here! There's so much I need to tell you!"

Aaron looked over at Derek, his eyes wide. Something in Aaron's expression made Derek take a step forward; it looked as if Aaron needed help.

"What's going on, Ellie?" Derek said, warily taking another step closer.

"NO! Derek don't!" Casey's scream was muffled and strained.

Derek's eyes looked down to the bodies, "Casey! Are you alright?!"

Before Casey could answer, Ellie bent down, rolled the first body, which Derek now recognized as Greg, off of Casey and pulled her to her feet. Casey screamed in pain as the movement ripped her stab wound, and caused it to start bleeding again.

"Now Derek," Ellie called, "Don't do anything rash. Casey's life depends on your actions in these next few minutes."

Derek found himself running at Ellie without ever consciously agreeing to do so, "LET HER GO!" he cried, preparing to tackle her, only to stop short as Ellie threw Casey in front of herself like a human shield. Casey's wide, fear-filled eyes stared at Derek, and Derek stretched his hand out to her.

"DEREK!" Ellie screamed, throwing Casey back down onto the ground, ignoring her screams of pain, "Stop it! Casey is dying! You belong with _me_!"

His heart stopped briefly as he heard the words 'Casey is dying', but his face twisted in rage as Ellie spoke her last sentence, "I will _never_ be with you!" he paused, "You're the reason everyone's dead, aren't you?"

Ellie looked at him and grinned, "No. Aaron is."

Derek had forgotten all about Aaron up until that moment; he turned his head to look at his former roommate, "Is that true, Aaron? You killed Lisa, and Sam? You tried to kill Casey?"

Aaron's shame filled eyes were all the answer Derek needed; he jumped at Aaron tackling him down to the ground. Aaron didn't fight back, but looked right into Derek's eyes, "I was blackmailed. I know it doesn't excuse what I did. But it was Ellie who ordered the deaths of everyone! She wanted to be with you, and so she decided to kill off all the rest of the girls at the camp. But then the boys started to get 'heroic' as she called it, and she had me kill them off too. I didn't want to, but she had information that could destroy my life, and like a fool I listened to her!"

Derek took a deep breath and stopped trying to punch Aaron's face. Slowly he stood up and faced Ellie with narrowed, hate-filled eyes, "You? You're the reason my best friend's dead? You tried to kill Casey? The one person I care about more than anyone else?"

Ellie grinned at him, "All to be with you forever, Derek!"

Derek shook his head in disgust, "You are _crazy_! I don't even _know_ you! Why would you think that killing everyone else off would suddenly make me _want_ you?!" He knelt down and touched Casey's arm gently, then glared back up at Ellie, "I won't let you get away with this."

Ellie laughed, a mad, erratic laugh, "I already have Derek! Aaron's DNA is all over the knife that was responsible for many of the deaths, and with just one statement from me I can prove his guilt of much, much more! I'll never get caught, and you'll be dead!"

With that she dove for Aaron as he still lay on the ground, breathing heavily, watching. He struggled with her as she tried to pull his knife out of his pocket. With a quick movement, Ellie shoved the knife out of his hands and into his heart, and his struggling stopped instantly. Slowly, she stood up, her eyes crazed as she stared down at Derek.

Slowly, he stood up and looked at her with cautious eyes, "You're going to kill _me _now. After everything you've done to get me to be with you, you're just going to off me, just like that?"

Ellie screamed and ran at Derek, knife poised high in the air. He caught her by the wrists and fought with her, struggling to loosen the knife from her deadly grip without injuring himself, or Casey as she lay still behind him. Finally, he was able to knee her in the gut, and the impact caused the knife to fall out of her hands. As she stumbled, Derek quickly picked the knife up and held it out in defense if she tried to attack him.

Smiling madly, she pounced at him, and as her hands went out to choke his neck, Derek shoved the knife out toward her, and felt it make contact with her chest. Her hands lightly touched his neck as she fell down, as lifeless as all the victims whose lives she had sought fit to take.

Breathing heavily and shivering slightly, Derek turned around and knelt next to Casey, "Casey? Casey are you all right?"

Slowly, she lifted her head up and smiled weakly at him, "You're the person I care about more than anyone else in the world, too."

His dirty, blood-smeared face lit up in a brilliant smile, and he carefully helped her to stand up. He wrapped his arms around her waist, held her close and leaned down to press his lips gently to hers. He then pulled away and she smiled at him as he kissed her forehead.

"Let's get out of here." She whispered, her voice strained with the pain from her back.

Derek nodded, picked her up in his arms, and carried her off to the parking lot to where the whole adventure had begun.

**--The End--**


End file.
